"Goodness in Rwanda" is the Documentary Debut of Tara Hughes & Gord Rand (Smallboy Productions & Rand Ink).
Tara and Gord are veteran theatre artists who are making a successful transition into documentary filmmaking, with a subject that is both timely and extremely personal. The two had been performing together in the play “Goodness” since 2006.
"Goodness" is an internationally award-winning play about the West's inability to comprehend Genocide. In 2009, we learned that the play had been invited to the Festival Arts Azimuts in Rwanda, a cultural festival aiming to use the Arts to promote healing. For the first time, we would be facing audiences with first-hand experience of the thing itself, the experience of Genocide.
It’s rare for a Canadian play to have as much international resonance and success as Michael Redhill’s "Goodness" has had. It must be virtually unprecedented for a group of Canadian theatre artists to take a play about genocide to a country that is still recovering from a genocide of its own.
This tour would be an opportunity to see if the Arts really could make a difference in the world. With the support and cooperation of Volcano Theatre and the cast/crew of the play “Goodness”, we were able to document this unique story.
We enlisted the support of celebrated documentary DOP John Westheuser (Shake Hands with the Devil) as Co-Director and pursued the project as a truly independent work of art.
There are lots of “making of” films in existence; there is none like this one – made by the artist themselves, in a situation as politically fraught and emotional raw as the mounting of “Goodness” in Rwanda.
Now, we need to finish the film. With a new cut in hand, we are raising final post-production funds to deliver ‘Goodness in Rwanda’ for release in the Spring of 2013.
Follow us on Twitter @GiRdocumentary
Or on Facebook: facebook.com/GoodnessInRwandaDocumentary
Visit goodnessinrwanda.com for crowdfunding/festival news as we move towards our release date.
You can reach the filmmakers at goodnessinrwanda@gmail.com.
"Art is a candle that lets us peer safely into darkness: a small light, best shared." Ross Manson, Artistic Director: Volcano Theatre
