October 15, 2012

The Muslim Public Affairs Council Hollywood Bureau cordially invites you to a screening and panel discussion of the critically acclaimed film, “Kinyarwanda,” in Washington DC on Wednesday, October 24. Co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of State Office of International Religious Freedom and SnagFilms, the event will be hosted by the Georgetown University African Studies Program.

Winner of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival’s World Cinema Audience Award, “Kinyarwanda” was rated four stars by Roger Ebert, who called it “a powerful film.” This remarkable story also received a Voices of Courage and Conscience Award at the 2012 MPAC Media Awards and was nominated for the 2012 NAACP Image Award in Film and TV.

WHAT: KINYARWANDA Screening

WHEN: Wednesday, October 24th at 6:00 p.m. (screening begins promptly at 6:30 p.m.)

WHERE: Georgetown University, Rafik B. Hariri Building, Lohrfink Auditorium

TICKETS: FREE but limited -- RSVP at kinyarwandascreening.eventbrite.com

At the time of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, the Mufti of Rwanda, the most respected Muslim leader in the country, issued a fatwa forbidding Muslims from participating in the killing of Tutsis. As the country became a slaughterhouse, mosques became places of refuge where Muslims and Christians, Hutus and Tutsis came together to protect each other.

“Kinyarwanda” is based on true accounts from survivors who took refuge at the Grand Mosque of Kigali and the madrassa of Nyanza. It recounts how the Imams opened the doors of the mosques to give refuge to Tutsis and those Hutus who refused to participate in the killing. “Kinyarwanda” provides a stunning example of the power that both religious leaders and ordinary people can wield to defend human rights and demand peace in the face of unspeakable brutality.