Pushing the Elephant (2010)
A scene from PUSHING THE ELEPHANT, a film by Beth Davenport and Elizabeth Mandel. All rights reserved.
Producer:
Co-Producer:
Cinematographer:
- Beth Davenport
- Leigh Iacobucci
- Camilla Turner
- Ari Palos
Production Company:
* Most external filmography links go to The Internet Movie Database.
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Also Known As: Rose & Nangabire
Opened: 08/06/2010 Limited
| Limited | 08/06/2010 | |
| IFC Center | 08/06/2010 - 08/12/2010 | 7 days |
| Arclight/Holly... | 08/13/2010 - 08/19/2010 | 7 days |
Genre: Documentary (In Banyamulenge and English with English subtitles)
Rated: Unrated
Short Synopsis
Pushing The Elephant chronicles the story of Rose Mapendo and how she escaped from the ethnic violence of the Democratic Republic of Congo to become a vital voice to help mend her divided country. She has assisted dozens of survivors to recover and rebuild their lives. But there is still one person Rose must teach to forgive -- her daughter Nangabire.
Long Synopsis
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. Pushing The Elephant 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.
