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No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.
Sweet Dreams, a 2013 documentary co-directed by the sister and brother team of Lisa and Rob Fruchtman, is a film of particular power and relevance. Indeed, it is one through which we can continue to learn from and find inspiration through repeated viewings.
The overt topic of the film appears to be about a group of Rwandan women who boldly defy the patriarchal, cultural prohibition against women drumming, or even touching a drum, by forming an all-women drumming circle, Ingoma Nshya.2 Founder and theater director Kiki Katese's only requirement for membership was “letting go of the past.” The past to which she refers is the horrific Rwandan genocide, of which she is also a survivor.
Briefly,3 the Rwandan genocide pitted the Hutu majority against the Tutsi minority; or, so it appears. But if one delves deeper into Rwandan history, a different and more tangled truth emerges, one that uncovers cycles of recurring figure/ground patterns of prejudice, intolerance, and alternating iterations of violence: Tutsis initiating murder against Hutus, followed by Hutusd