Rape as a weapon of war has had much press. Less discussed is the legacy it has left behind; a desensitized acceptance of the abuse of women at the hands of criminals, opportunists and most worryingly, ordinary men. Hamadi's short documentary film aims to get right to heart of the matter by following the arrest of a group of youths who attacked a woman returning from the shops. Hamadi's focus is a rural community, where political correctness holds no sway, and in so doing he attempts to show both the depth of the problem and the attempts by authorities to reset the national moral code.

Rape as a weapon of war has had much press, most notably in the recent Congo wars. Less discussed is the legacy it has left behind; a desensitised acceptance of the abuse of women at the hands of criminals, opportunists and most worryingly, ordinary men. Hamadi's short documentary film aims to get right to heart of the matter by following the Head of the Sexual Violence Unit, in Bukavu, Eastern DRC, she arrests two teenage brothers who rape a woman returning from the shops and a man who rapes a woman because he thinks she is a witch. Hamadi's focus is on an Eastern DRC town where political correctness holds no sway, and in so doing he attempts to show both the depth of the problem and the attempts by authorities to reset the national moral code. The film's unexpected triumph is its honesty - both in the depiction of poverty and the community's burgeoning anger at the endemic abuse.

A film by Dieudo Hamadi

RD Congo, 2009, Documentary, 26 mins

Production, Distribution: Suka ! Productions & Big World Cinema

with the support of Bertha Fund (IDFA)
www.idfa.nl/en/film/833eddec-b5a3-4974-b30c-b029cead8b51/documentary-workshop-drc/idfa-bertha-fund