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Director:
Beth Davenport and Elizabeth Mandel
Producer:
Katy Chevigny and Angela Tucker
Executive Producer:
Chicken & Egg Pictures, Julie Parker Benello, Wendy Ettinger and Judith Helfand
Rose & Nangabire is made possible by generous funding from:
Chicken & Egg Pictures, New York State Council on the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts, ITVS, Experimental Television Center, Cinereach, The Still Point Fund and other kind supporters.
In the late 1990s, Rose Mapendo lost her family and home to the violence that engulfed the Democratic Republic of Congo. She emerged advocating forgiveness and reconciliation. In a country where ethnic violence has created seemingly irreparable rifts among Tutsis, Hutus and other Congolese, this remarkable woman is a vital voice in her beleaguered nation’s search for peace. Now, Rose is confronted with teaching one her most recalcitrant students how to forgive—Nangabire, the daughter who remained behind.
When war came to Rose’s village, she was separated from her five-year-old daughter, Nangabire. Rose managed to escape with nine of her ten children and was eventually resettled in Phoenix, Arizona. Over a decade later, mother and daughter are reunited in the US where they must face the past and build a new future.
We follow Rose and Nangabire over the course of a year as they make up for lost time. Rose struggles to find balance in her life as a mother of ten and a full-time advocate for refugees. She serves as the Ambassador for Mapendo International, a humanitarian organization named in Rose’s honor that protects and cares for forgotten refugees. Her speaking engagements have her traveling around the world from the White House to the UNHCR in Geneva to peace talks in Goma, Congo.
Meanwhile Nangabire, now seventeen, must adapt to America and discover how she fits into the sprawling Mapendo family. As mother and daughter get to know one another, they must come to terms with a painful past, and define what it means to be a survivor, a woman, a refugee and an American.
Through this intimate family portrait unfolding against the wider drama of war, we will explore the long-term and often hidden effects of war on women and families, particularly those in traditional societies—financial despair, increased susceptibility to rape, and social ostracism. Rose & Nangabire will capture one of the most important stories of our age, a time when genocidal violence is challenged by the moral fortitude and grace of one woman’s mission for peace.
Rose is being featured on CNN as part of CNN Heroes: Susan Sarandon: Sharing The Spotlight.
Rose & Nangabire was one of only three films from the United States invited to participate in the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam Pitch Forum in November. This prestigious event brings together directors, producers, buyers financiers and audiences.
Rose’s brother Fredrick and his wife and baby were recently granted visas to join Rose and her family in the United States. We congratulate the family and look forward to welcoming them.
In July, Rose became the first refugee to address the Annual Tripartite Consultations on Resettlement of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva.