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Pierantonio Costa is the Schindler of the Rwandan genocide. He saved almost two thousand people during those infamous days of terror and bloodshed where almost a million lives were lost. Risking his life every single time, he travelled in and out of the country, using his own money to get people across the border to safety. This beautifully made film pays tribute to the courage of a man who until now has been an unsung hero.
Driving fast to get to the border, in one particularly terrifying episode Costa drove straight into the immediate aftermath of a massacre. Surrounded by bleeding bodies, he watched as the Interahamwe dragged a young girl away, using her as a shield as soldiers aimed their weapons at them. "In order to break the deadlock", Costa stood between the men and the guns bargaining for the girl's life, eventually taking her away to safety.
On his missions to get potential victims out of Rwanda, Costa dodged gun battles, roadblocks and ambushes. On his trips smuggling his staff to the border he picked up anyone else he encountered along the way that was in danger. "Someone knocked on my door. I thought it was the militiamen. To my great surprise Mr Costa was standing there. It was a miracle."
At the outbreak of the genocide, Costa was a successful entrepreneur and had been appointed the diplomatic consul of Italy in Rwanda. By the end of the genocide he had incurred property losses amounting to over 3 million dollars. Yet despite losing everything to save as many people as he could, Costa has always regretted not being able to do more. "For the first time in Africa, I had seen children who were astonished and filled with fear."
Through the eyes of the Consul and those whose lives he saved we see the fragile condition of the country today. "The scars of those who survived have been etched on the imagination of the world. Here if you bear the marks of the genocide people simply think you are lucky, because you survived." Those left behind speak plainly about what they witnessed. Yet they admit that although as a nation they have forgiven, co-existence with the perpetrators is, "not always easy".
Sixteen years after the terrible days that brought about the death of nearly a million people, this film offers a moving portrait of the extraordinary bravery of a man who had nothing to gain and everything to lose in his determination to save lives. "I did my duty as a Consul and my duty to my conscience. I believe everybody can do their duty."
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 Award for Excellence, TheIndieFest, 2012SGI
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| Making the film |
This movie was born during a flight to Africa. Luciano Scalettari, author of the book "The Consul's list", told me about Pierantonio Costa's story. Luciano met the consul Costa at the time of the Rwanda genocide and he was struck by his simpleness and resolution. I devoured that book and that story during the whole trip, then I said: "This is one of those stories that need to be told, at any cost, by all means". But the biggest obstacle was to convince Mr. Costa to talk about those events again, (he never did for ten years) and, most of all, to come back to those places and meet people there. Thanks to Pierantonio we had the chance to travel to Rwanda and follow a way that wasn't easy for anyone. The memories, the accounts and the words of such a good man allowed us to enter the hearts of the people we met, reconstructing situations that saw Pierantonio, his familiy and their local friends in the desperate attempt to save as many human lives as possible. It was a journey across a wonderful land to remember a brave man, to tell the story of a country that is trying to rebuild himself with strength and determination, so that everyone can see how human beings can be cruel, but also how fair and brave they can be. |
| The Producers |
Alessandro Rocca is a public affairs reporter and freelance photographer, director and author of numerous documentaries. He collaborates with Avvenire, Famiglia Cristiana, Africa and other
newspapers. He has carried out over 50 documentaries and reportages around the world (from Afghanistan to Congo) covering surveys and environmental topics. In 2005 he was a finalist in the Ilaria Alpi Television Journalist Prize in the production section.
Luciano Scalettari graduated in Philosophy at the Ca' Foscari University of Venice and has been a reporter since 1987. Mr Scalettari has worked for Famiglia Cristiana since April 1992. Since 2000 he has been the weekly's special correspondent and his main fields are the African continent (he has carried out
expeditions in about thirty African nations below the Sahara Desert) and survey reportages.He won the Saint Vincent Journalist Prize for the periodicals section in 2000 with his two colleagues Barbara
Carazzolo and Alberto Chiara, and then again in 2006 alone. |
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