Forgiveness on film

Young filmmaker captures the remarkable but painful reconciliation efforts in Rwanda | Alyson Thoner

How long does it take to get from the red earth roads of post-genocide Rwanda to the palm-lined boulevards of Beverly Hills? For Laura Waters Hinson, American University film graduate, it took three years. On Saturday evening, June 7, the young filmmaker walked down the red carpet at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater to receive the gold medal for best documentary at the 35th annual Student Academy Awards. It was a high point in the personal and professional odyssey that led Hinson to produce As We Forgive, her film exploring forgiveness and reconciliation in the wake of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

"By nature, I'm a skeptic," says Hinson, and the film benefits from her natural feel for ambiguity. Far from making forgiveness its foregone conclusion, As We Forgive proceeds with a suspenseful sensitivity to the deep wounds of real Rwandans. Frame by frame, its raw, nuanced approach guides viewers skillfully through a topic that might drown in its own inherent pathos.