Al Jazeera English - Witness: Sweet Dreams (Clip)
This documentary from the Al Jazeera English Witness series tells an inspiring story about the Rwandan genocide, a troupe of female drummers, and the healing power of ice cream.
It all began with playwright Odile "Kiki" Katese, who founded a drumming circle in Rwanda in 2005 with women from both sides of the genocide. The project had the twin goals of healing and empowering women, and was so successful that it evolved into the performing troupe Ingoma Nshya.
Invited to the Sundance Institute Theatre Lab in 2009, Kiki met Jennie Dundas, an actor and co-founder of an ice cream shop in Brooklyn, New York called Blue Marble. Kiki proposed opening an ice cream shop in Rwanda, and asked the Blue Marble folks to teach them how. After an exploratory visit to Rwanda, Jennie and her partner Alexis Miesen agreed.
Filmmaker Lisa Fruchtman was advising aspiring filmmakers at the Sundance Institute when she heard about the unfolding project. She was drawn to the unlikely, but extraordinary and moving story.
So, moving quickly, she called her brother, New York-based documentary filmmaker Rob Fruchtman, who agreed that it needed to be told.
Meanwhile, the Blue Marble partners had just brought some of the drummers to New York to learn about ice cream and to raise money for the venture. Rob rushed over to meet the drummers and their sponsors.
Here Lisa and Rob describe the making of their film about Kiki, the Rwandan drumming women and the ice cream shop, Sweet Dreams.
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About Al Jazeera - Witness
Rageh Omaar presents Witness, a half-hour daily documentary series which features short, specially commissioned or acquired films gathered from independent filmmakers.
Each documentary reveals the unknown lives of ordinary people, following their lives, telling their stories and portraying the challenges that confront them. Our witnesses are people in a situation or those who have observed them first hand.
The films cover conflict, belief, the past and the future and as well as bringing new stories to light they showcase the talents of a new breed of multi-skilled, frontline journalist. In the studio, Rageh will further explore the issues raised in the films, with expert guests on the subject matter and the filmmakers themselves.
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