Donate NowJoin us for the Pulitzer Center Film Festival, "Global Crises, Human Stories." The festival features DC premieres of several films including “Seeds of Hope,” by award-winning filmmaker Fiona Lloyd-Davies. Fiona takes us to a region known as the most dangerous place in the world for women, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. She tells the story of Masika Katsuva, herself the victim of multiple rapes, who has rescued some 6,000 women and children. In this searing film we also meet the perpetrators of rape, among them soldiers from the Congolese army. These men give extraordinarily open testimony as to why they rape and their attitudes towards their horrific acts.
The vast mineral wealth of the Democratic Republic of Congo is said to be its greatest curse—its value so great that it continues to drive the conflict in the eastern part of the country and the violence that has meant the deaths of nearly six million people in a decade.
In November 2012, as the rebel militia M23 walked into Goma, a city in eastern DRC, the Congolese army went on a rampage, raping over 80 women and children in just two days. Rape is so prevalent in Congo that many women expect it to happen to them at least once in their lifetimes, yet there are few prosecutions.
Masika brings survivors of rape together to farm, take care of children and heal.
Monday evening's screening includes a discussion with Kiersten Stewart, director of public policy and advocacy, at Futures Without Violence and Gabriel Deussom, program manager at Free the Slaves (FTS) where he manages its anti-slavery programs in eastern Congo in partnership with Congolese civil society organizations. Also on hand: Celia Richa, senior international policy advocate for Futures Without Violence.
Tickets are $5 general admission, and $3 for students and seniors. Tickets on sale at http://www.westendcinema.com/
Monday, September 23:
7 pm: Seeds of Hope. Followed by discussion with Kiersten Stewart, Futures Without Violence, and Gabriel Deussom, Free the Slaves. Reception.
Thursday, September 26:
5 pm: Seeds of Hope
West End Cinema
2301 M St NW, Washington, DC 20037
All Films in the Festival:
The Abominable Crime: Homophobia's deadly consequences in Jamaica, and the fight for freedom, security––and understanding. Directed by Micah Fink.
No Fire Zone: The true story of war crimes committed at the end of the Sri Lankan civil war in 2009. Directed by Callum Macrae.
Outlawed in Pakistan: A rape victim's odyssey through her country's flawed justice system. Directed by Habiba Nosheen and Hilke Schellmann.
Seeds of Hope: One woman shines a beacon of hope to dispel the despair of women survivors of rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Directed by Fiona Lloyd-Davies.
Pulitzer Center Photojournalist Shorts: A special shorts program featuring work by award-winning photojournalists including Shiho Fukada, Stephanie Sinclair, Dominic Bracco II, Larry C. Price, Andre Lambertson, Joshua Cogan, and Allison Shelley.
See the full film festival schedule.