AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange

The Faces We Lost

By Piotr Cieplak

THE FACES WE LOST is a moving documentary about the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda and the efforts of those who remain to remember the loved ones they lost. The film follows nine Rwandans, who guide viewers through their experiences and remembrances of loved ones using photographic images, or in some cases, lamenting the absence of any photographic evidence to help them keep their loved ones’ memories alive.

The film also explores the professional aspect of “memory-making” in Rwanda: The Genocide Archive (which houses thousands of original images donated by the victims’ relatives) and the Kigali Genocide Memorial (where many photographs are on public display). As the private and the public meet, THE FACES WE LOST moves to paints a complex memorial landscape of contemporary Rwanda. April 2019 marks the 25th anniversary of the genocide.