Tanzania / 1997 / 63mins / Documentary / Swahili and Kinyarwanda

This documentary highlights the changes due to the massive flow of Rwandan civil war refugees to Tanzania in 1994. Hundreds of thousands Rwandanese have taken shelter just across the border near the village Ngara, next to Tranzanias important trade route. The local population is trying to make ends meet albeit the Rwandan refugees heavily influence the economics and the safety of the area. Local Tanzanians describe how they cope with the economic difficulties and the increasing crime. Also, the construction of the refugee camp Benaco for the Rwandese near Ngara has been a big change for the local community. The documentary successfully shows how the horrific civil war in Rwanda also has its severe consequences across the border.

Hillie Molenaar

Hillie Molenaar, born in 1945 in the Netherlands, is a documentary filmmaker. She left school at 15 and worked as a cleaner, waitress, and bookkeeper before finding her niche as a documentary filmmaker in 1974 when, at the age of 29, she made her first film Protest Garden. She was the assistant to the legendary Joris Ivens before she formed Molenwiek Film in Amsterdam with Joop van Wijk in 1978. Jointly they have produced and directed many award winning documentaries and short films, including The Factory (1979) and The Daily Nation (2000). They also produced Xime (Guinea-Bissau, 1994) directed by Sana Na N’Hada, which was an official selection at Cannes Film Festival in Un Certain Regard. Molenaar has since formed her own production company HM Films in 1995, and has taught with the Zelig School for Documentary, Television and New Media. She is also an Election Observer (EU & OSCE long and short time) in Bangladesh, Georgia, Pakistan, Aceh, Yemen, Ethiopia, Bela Russia, Ukraine, Indonesia, Rwanda, Moldavia, Ukraine, Sri Lanka, Zambia, Uganda, Rotterdam (recount), Russia (Siberia) and was Member of The Dutch House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) The Netherlands from 2000 - 2002. Learn More

Joop van Wijk

Joop van Wijk was born in 1950 in the Netherlands, studied medicine in Utrecht, became an MD in 1975, and worked as a doctor in Africa and the Netherlands. In 1978 he took up filmmaking with partner Hillie Molenaar in the independent production company Molenwiek Film, Amsterdam in 1978. Learn More