Forgiven/forgotten
Joonhee Elliot Park
Mission Statement
In 1994, a massive murder occurred in Rwanda, surrounding a tribal issue. The tragic history is known as the Rwandan Genocide. During the four brutal months from April to July, 800,000 Tutsi minority and moderate Hutu died and around 2 million refugees fled the country.
My proposed project, FORGIVEN/FORGOTTEN is a story of reconciliation. It is a series of video portraits of the victims and perpetrators of the Rwanda Genocide. I started capturing portraits with seven individuals while I was visiting Rwanda last October. The total number of portraits is looking forward to increase to hundreds, and will be displayed at the Rwanda Reconciliation Center coordinated by CARSA- Christian Action for Reconciliation and Social Assistance.
FORGIVEN/FORGOTTEN focuses on the stories of the marginalized as my films continually did so, but in an unalike form to enhance the viewer's experience. Portraits have been a popular genre, yet there are so little to non video portraits other than experimental films. This project will blur the boundaries of the art forms and examine the purpose of the documentary: from informing to experiencing, observing to meeting, and from conversing to contemplating.
