A film review by Sonya McCloud

Colonialism for all the good that it did, it also created division, repression, mistrust and an imbalance that to this day haunts the colonies. Wars have been fought and millions have needlessly perished because of the belief by certain people that they are the master race, sent to rule over the countless minions. 

What makes a master race, blonde hair, blue eyes or having cattle and not having cattle, which in the case of Rwanda was the catalyst for the barbaric and brutal genocide. A legacy of Belgian colonialism who favoured the cattle loving Tutsis over the crop farmers the Hutus. This division was not because of cultural and religious differences but purely due to economics. 

It beggars belief that a master race is created because of owning cattle. A genocide whether it is the Jews, Bosnians, native Americans, Aborigines or the Hutus is a horror and an abomination that men exact on fellow men. 

Amongst the hate and outpouring of violence, lives a solitary human a Schindler who risks everything to save just one soul because the realisation that what is happening is wrong it is inhumane.

Writer and director Jo Ingabire Moys found that one person in Karuhimbi. The BAZIGAGA script is a wonderful compilation of the rough and tumble differences between the Tutsi Pastor and the Hutu shaman, both have good and sincere hearts and are able to reconcile to save lives. 

The film is distressing to watch because it is a reality, a time when much brutality and savagery took place. A nod to Jo Ingabire Moys for sharing her family experience. 

The cinematography with its use of low light and shadows complements the scene of fear and anxiety. One obscure fact stood out and that was Prof’s dress, his bright red beret and shining white shirt, it was odd but absolutely correct, because it is a very African leader trait.

This wonderful short deserves a place on the Academy’s live action short film shortlist!