MUNYURANGABO International Feature Competition

Lee Isaac Chung, a Korean-American filmmaker working out of New York, makes his feature debut with an outstanding film about two young Rwandan men, one Hutu and the other Tutsi, on a journey through Rwanda’s haunted countryside.

Set in the years after the Rwandan genocide of 1994, the film opens with Ngabo (Jeff Rutagengwa) – who is named after the ancient Rwandan warrior, Munyurangabo – stealing a machete from a market. Shortly afterwards Ngabo and his best friend Sangwa (Eric Ndorunkundiye) set out for the countryside to find the man who killed Ngabo’s father during the genocide.

Chung and his actors-first-timers who were also involved in writing the script-articulate the pain of memory, betrayal And loss with poignancy in this rare and moving film about the delicate ties that bind friendship and family.