COLUMBIA — Over a period of 100 days in 1994, an estimated 800,000 members of Rwanda’s Tutsi tribe and moderates of the Hutu tribe were murdered during a genocide that became one of the bloodiest events in Africa.
The assassination of then-president Juvenal Habyarimana, a member of Rwanda's largest ethnic group, the Hutus, helped rekindle an old flame of ethnic animosity between the Tutsi and Hutu tribes dating back to Belgium’s colonization of Rwanda in the 1920s.
According to the British Broadcasting Corporation, many blamed Tutsi rebel leader and current Rwandan president Paul Kagame for Habyarimana’s death.
The assassin was never found, and more than three months of extreme violence followed, resulting in the death of 800,000 Tutsis, Rwanda's largest minority ethnic group.
Nearly 15 years later, the Belgian-bred theater troupe Groupov brings “Rwanda 94” to MU on Sunday. Blending several different genres, “Rwanda 94” is the finished product of five years during which Groupov members interviewed survivors and learned of their experiences, according to MU's Web site.
A screening of the film is set for 4 p.m. Sunday in Allen Auditorium of MU's Arts and Science building. A question-and-answer session with the filmmakers will be from 5 to 6 p.m. Monday in Room 113 of the Arts and Science building. Both events are free.
Sponsors for the film are Step Up! American Association of Rwandan Women, MU’s Afro-Romance Institute, MU’s Office of the Vice Provost of International Programs and MU’s peace studies program.