The Bride

A few years after the genocide against the Tutsi, a young woman named Eva dreams of attending medical school. But then she is abducted by a group of men, which later turns out to be part of a traditional marriage rite called Guterura. Feeling abandoned by her conservative aunts, who push her to accept her new situation, Eva now has to come to terms with her new reality, sharing a household with her unwanted husband Silas and his cousin, with whom she develops a deep and affectionate friendship. Eva grows closer and closer to Silas’s cousin. While making tea, doing each other’s hair and making bags out of beads, they start to bond. They share stories of their families and what happened to them during the genocide. When she discovers the tragic fate suffered by her husband’s family, Eva is torn between staying and running away. Birara’s portrayal of a friendship that develops alongside a forced marriage and how this allows the subject of the genocide to find its way into the narrative in a very calm way, is quite unique. With its minimalistic aesthetic, the film manages to transmit a certain melancholy, beauty and sensitivity, all of which are hugely impressive for a debut film. (Berlinale)