2007年VOA标准英语-New Film 'Rwanda Rising' Gives Hopeful Outlook

By Mike O'Sullivan
Los Angeles
13 February 2007

A new film called Rwanda Rising looks at the African nation 12 years after the Rwandan genocide. Mike O'Sullivan reports, the documentary produced by Andrew Young, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, had its premiere in Los Angeles.

 
Andrew Young 
Ethnic¹ tensions in Rwanda led to the killings² of 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 1994. In 2004, Andrew Young attended a memorial to mark the 10th anniversary of the genocide. Returning to the United States, he saw several films about the killings, but said the films were showing only part of the story.

"So I got a film crew to go with me the next time, and we just took pictures of the people," said Young. "We tried to let the people tell their own story and let the film show how far they have come in healing the wounds of this horrible event, which is now 12-years-old."

 
Scene from Rwanda Rising 
The resulting documentary, Rwanda Rising, opened at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles. It shows rebuilding efforts at the grassroots level.

Clip from Film: "This is a coffee cooperative of 2,000 coffee growers and their families. And of those 2,000 people, 800 are women. And of those 800 women, about half of them are widows of the genocide."

Andrew Young lives in Atlanta. Today he helps run a company called GoodWorks International, which promotes investment in Africa and the Caribbean. He says when Americans hear African news, it is usually bad news.

"But that is the way the news is," he said. "We always say, even in Atlanta, if it bleeds, it leads. I understand that. But that is why it is important for some of us to tell the good stories, the stories of healing, the stories of prosperity, not just poverty, and the stories of political unity³ after a tremendous conflict like this."

The film has interviews with Rwandan president Paul Kagame and Paul Wolfowitz of the World Bank.

Former President Bill Clinton also appears in the film, impressed with the way the two Rwandan ethnic groups have come together in villages that foster reconciliation⁴.

"I never cease to be shocked by the way the Hutus and the Tutsis live together in these reconciliation villages, the stories they have of their experiences during that horrible period and their refusal to let it shape the rest of their lives," said Bill Clinton.

 
Quincy Jones 
Music producer Quincy Jones also appears in the film and he attended its premiere in Los Angeles. Jones has been to Africa many times, and tells VOA that, too often, those outside the continent are poorly informed about it.

"Because there are many sides of Africa, and until you take the time to go out and take the energy and the compassion⁵ to go out and explore what the differences are - there is a big difference in South Africa and Johannesburg, and Darfur, or Kigali," said Quincy Jones.

The Rwandan capital of Kigali still has tensions, but Jones says the Rwandans are resilient and are moving on.

Andrew Young says there are many bright spots in Africa, despite the news stories of poverty, conflict and disease. He says South Africa is one bright spot, and Nigeria is another.

"We hear about the bloodshed in the Niger Delta⁶, which is real," he said. "But Nigeria is [more than] 120 million people. And people are moving together."

He says Nigeria has an elected civilian⁷ government, and has moved from a budget deficit⁸ to a budget surplus.

1 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

2 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

3 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

4 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

5 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

6 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

7 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

8 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。