This Wednesday, March 16 is released in French theaters the new film by Thierry Michel, author of thirteen films in thirty years on the Congo. In “The Empire of Silence”, the Belgian director looks back on twenty-five years of unpunished crimes in the DRC.
It is a tragedy that unfolds in general indifference, a story that stutters and repeats itself. The Empire of Silence begins in 1994, with the mass arrival in the country of Hutu genocidaires who mingle with the Rwandan civilian populations, displaced on the other side of the border.
► Also read the interview with Thierry Michel: “The Congo has lived an exceptional history that we cannot talk about”
“Pointing out the criminals”
From then on, a succession of massacres, which gradually spread throughout the country, massacres first perpetrated by foreign powers, Uganda and Rwanda, then by the rebels and the Congolese soldiers.
” It was necessary to point out, today, the responsibilities, point out the criminals, explains director Thierry Michel. I did not understand how this country swung from missed appointment to missed appointment to fall into an abyss of violence. This cycle of massacre that has tainted certain regions of the Congo in an unspeakable way for 25 years. »
“ Let’s have courage ! »
Can a film change the course of history? At a minimum, it can show, denounce, raise awareness, even alert the international community, to put, perhaps, an end to the reign of impunity.
Like the call of Denis Mukwege, famous Congolese doctor and 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner: “ Let us have the courage to reveal the names of the perpetrators of crimes against humanity ! »
► On Saturday March 19, Thierry Michel is the guest of the show All cinemas in the world to talk about his film The Empire of Silence.
► To read also: Thierry Michel: “The Congo has lived an exceptional history that we cannot talk about”
► To read also: Denis Mukwege receives the title of Honoris Causa member of the French Academy of Medicine
► To read also: Denis Mukwege: “The situation is explosive in eastern Congo and we must act quickly”