Documentary At Its Simplistic Best: Simon's Take on MY NEIGHBOUR MY KILLER

Status: Un Certain Regard With the focus upon the big fiction features at Cannes you would be forgiven for assuming the lack of anything factual playing- but if you're willing to move away from the pomp, circumstance and grandeur of the two main theatres (Lumiere and Debussy) it is there to be found. Conflict inspires culture. Look at the multifarious works of art that were borne out of the Vietnam War and it becomes obvious that intense political and historical moments beget discourse and then artistic output. The Rwandan genocide of 1994- possibly the most profoundly concentrated moment of mass killing outside of any of the "big" world wars- is no different, having recently spawned the excellent Hotel Rwanda, Sometimes in April and Shooting Dogs. My Neighbour My Killer focuses on the process of laboured reconcilliation between the Hutu and Tutsi after the Rwandan government set in place the widespread Gacaca law, whereby those responsible for the genocide are reintegrated into their former communities and then are judged for their crimes by the traditional resolution mechanism of "justice on the grass". It is an intriguing thing to see play out, as the Tutsi survivors (and often their Hutu widows) are forced to endure the process of integration having witnessed at first hand the unimaginable horror of the Hutu attrocities. The strength of the production is largely down to the fact that it remains impartial even in face of highly publicised and undeniable facts, and concentrates instead on giving a forum for the survivors of the massacres- most centrally Felicite Nyirasangwa and Euphrasie Mukarwemera- to confront the re-integrated murderers of their families and friends, and to express their feelings about the Gacaca process. The film-maker Anne Aghion is overtly interested in how the process might encourage open dialogue between the killers and their remaining collateral victims- she was initially convinced to start the project some ten years ago by an interest in whether the process might help the country to avoid the eruption of more violence in years to come. It is interesting how the genocide has inspired such a poignant vocabulary of loss and abandonment: in candid conversation with each other Felicite and Euphrasie talk about their loss and at times sound like a Greek chorus commenting on their own tragedy. Their remarks are touched with poignant poetry- "We'll end up dying in sorrow and solitude", "We'll wander alone and fade away", and their tragic resolution that there is nothing they can do but accept the judgement of the government and then of the Gacaca council has a harrowing touch of melancholy that tells all too well the reality of the aftermath. No matter how well the country rebuilds itself, or tells itself and its people that the reintegration of the killers is good for the community and infrastructure of Rwanda, the human cost will always leave ragged scars across the identity of its people. It is difficult to view My Neighbour My Killer as a resolved piece of work, and I doubt there was much intention to chart the internal rejuvenation of Rwanda from start to finish- the documentary looks only at one of the ripples caused by the genocide, and offers the human faces of the tragedy in Euphrasie and Felicite, as well as giving a voice to the convicted Tutsi murderers. The film is at once a stark tale of individual loss, and the wider issue of forgiveness, while being an inspirational tale of a country striving to better itself, taking the first pro-active steps towards progress, and looks to be the definitive film on its subject. It is a shame then that so many of my peers decided to walk out of the screening less than half way through, thus robbing themselves of the overall effect of the documentary. Still, I'm sure there was a party to be attended or some high and mighty ass to kiss...