LEWISTON – Bates College will commemorate the 14th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda with a screening of a new documentary film by genocide survivor Gilbert Ndahayo. It will be shown at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 14, in Chase Hall Lounge, 56 Campus Ave.

The event is open to the public at no cost. For more information, contact Assistant Professor of French Alexandre Dauge-Roth at 786-6281 or adaugero@bates.edu.

Ndahayo’s film “Behind This Convent” explores both the efforts of genocide survivors to find the remains of their loved ones and the implementation of justice in post-genocide Rwanda. A question-and-answer session with Ndahayo will follow the screening. The Rev. Bill Blaine-Wallace, Bates’ multifaith chaplain, and members of the organization Bates Students for Peace in Rwanda will also take part in the event.

Ndahayo, a director and actor, recently completed the hourlong “Behind This Convent,” which documents his quest to learn how his parents died during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. He was only 13 years old when his parents, his young sister and some 200 others were murdered in his home garden during the genocide, in which up to 1 million Tutsi and moderate Hutu were massacred by Hutu extremists.

Ndahayo’s filmmaking career began with a 2005 training program. Since then he has directed, produced and acted in a variety of topical film projects including “Scars of Silver,” “My Graduation Day” and his first film, the autobiographical “Scars of My Days,” which was presented at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival to an audience that included former President Bill Clinton and Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

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