Claudia Schmid - schmidfilm
Documentary - Sript & Direction / Street Photography
Film Screening for the Women of Walungo, DR Congo
One year after the film's premiere, I pulled out all the stops to show my film, *Voices of Violence*, to the people of Walungo who had participated in the filming. Through this screening, I wanted to demonstrate my respect and gratitude to the women who had placed their trust in me—women who, for the very first time, had shared their traumatic life stories on camera. I remain deeply impressed by their courage, their will to live, and their strength; indeed, I grew very fond of all of them during the filming process. Furthermore, I wanted to travel to the DR Congo once again to verify that the funds raised had truly reached these "Simama women," and to see how their lives had been transformed by the donations collected alongside the film project.
I began the technical preparations for the screening in Cologne, while simultaneously coordinating the on-site logistics in eastern Congo. With the assistance of Therese Mema Mapenzi, I was able to secure the church community hall in the small neighboring town of Walungo for the event and finalize all arrangements prior to my arrival in Bukavu. With the film stored on a hard drive—along with a large, portable screen, a powerful sound system, and a high-luminosity projector—I flew to Burundi, crossed the border into Bukavu, and then traveled on to Walungo with Therese Mema Mapenzi. The reunion was a source of immense joy, and the film screening itself was an experience I will never forget. I could barely recognize the women, so profoundly had they changed in appearance—looking well-nourished, laughing, and radiating strength and newfound self-confidence.
During the screening, I watched their expressive faces in the dim light. They were curious about the film and excited to see how they and their stories would come across on screen. I saw that they listened intently, absorbing each word with pride. I sincerely hoped that the film would do justice to them and their stories, and that they would be satisfied with the result.
They liked the film for its radical nature. They appreciated that I hadn't "smoothed over" their accounts and hadn't omitted the extremely brutal stories from the rebel camp. It was very important to them that the world learn the full extent of these atrocities – they had told me this emphatically before filming began. But during the screening, they were also reflective and moved, because they relived on screen everything they had endured and realized how sick, ashamed, and hopeless they had felt just two and a half years earlier. After the screening, there was silence for several minutes. But then they joyfully jumped onto the platform, hugged me, danced around me, threw me in the air, and, laughing happily, showed me their appreciation and gratitude.
The next day, I visited the women in their mud huts and saw how they were living now and what improvements had been made through the fundraising campaigns I had launched alongside the film. Their huts had been repaired, the children were going to school, and the women were cultivating a small amount of land and raising goats and guinea pigs. Although I suspect that some of the funds didn't reach these women directly, the work of church-run trauma centers in the districts of eastern Congo and the women of the various Simama groups were financially supported.
Credits:
Concept & Implementation: Claudia Schmid
Photos: Claudia Schmid