A bittersweet picture of resilience and psychological consequences of dealing with the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide witnessed by two women: Anna, a Polish ornithologist working in Africa and Claudine, a Tutsi woman rescued by Anna from the Hutu led massacre. An engaging tale about the meaning of life and an existence marked by trauma.

Claudine  Mugambira  (Eliane  Umuhire) is  the daughter  of  a  renowned  Rwandan Tutsi ornithologist.  After  the  massacre  in  which  Claudine’s  family  is  killed,  Anna  Keller  (Jowita  Budnik), a Polish  ornithologist  who  researched for  years alongside  Claudine’s  father helps  her  escape  to  Poland.  Anna, herself  a  witness  to  the  violence,  is  deeply  affected  by  it. Both women try to forget the horrors they witnessed and start new lives in Poland. Easing the pain of the past proves difficult for both of them as each struggles to accept the  slow  and  peaceful  flow  of  existence  and  people’s  indifference  towards  the  events  in  Rwanda.

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Birds  Are  Singing  in  Kigali, the last joint film by the highly successful husband and wife duo of Joanna  Kos-Krauze  and  the  late  Krzysztof  Krauze  (1953-2014),  depicts  the  process  of  recovering  from  trauma and  the tragic  necessity of choosing life after miraculously  surviving the hell  of  genocide.  The plot is set in Poland  and  in Rwanda.  The filmmakers chose the formula  of  an  intimate  tale,  eschewing any pathos, sermonizing or graphic displays of cruelty. The main characters are two  women:  Anna, an ornithologist  studying  the vulture population  in  Rwanda,  and  Claudine,  a  young  Tutsi  woman. The film won multiple awards worldwide, including Silver Hugo Best Director (Joanna Kos-Krauze, Krzysztof Krauze) and Silver Hugo Best Actress (Jowita Budnik, Eliane Umuhire) at the Chicago International Film Festival and Best Actress (Jowita Budnik, Eliane Umuhire) at the 2017 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival to name only a few.

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