Newest film by Moise Ganza illustrates the devastating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown on people's wellbeing
The Rwandan creative sector has sought to portray the effects of the Covid-19 lockdown through paintings, photography, contemporary dance performances and theatre.
The latest effort is through film, and rising Rwandan director Moise Ganza is shining the light on the impact the lockdown has had on mental health.
In his latest film Muzunga, Ganza breathes more reality into this reflection.
Produced by Shema Dave and starring Yves Kijyana, Liliane Irankunda, and Yvan Hervé Butera as a voice-over artiste, the 17-minute short film in Kinyarwanda with English subtitles takes one to the eve of the lockdown, when news broadcasts instructed the public to stay home as a result of the pandemic.
David, the main protagonist, is a young motorcyclist whose livelihood depends on transporting people, but now is impacted by the 'stay home’ directive.
Days that follow paint a picture of how people not only lost incomes but are confined under their roofs as loneliness kicks in.
David packs his motorcycle, which is over time covered with dust -- a vivid picture of how time eats into his once blossoming business.
Inside his house, David tries escaping into smoking, but his thoughts torment him. The director visualises the effects of the racing thoughts as David seeks to solve his problems. In one scene David looks through old photographs to calm his mind, but it doesn't seem to work.
The director switches between day and night, taking us into David’s mind, helping us visualise the effects of the pandemic on people's mental wellness.
For instance, the picture of the Inyambo, an indigenous Rwandan cattle breed, that hangs on David’s bedroom wall appears to gradually transform into an active but faint animal, and the cries of the cow are repeatedly heard.
Hallucinations
Radio bulletins in Kinyarwanda, French and English are repeatedly heard too, and they leave David restless. These are all hallucinations, which push him deeper into mental throes.
At one point David dresses up as if heading out for a function, only to realise that it isn’t real.
Financed by the University of Global Health and Equity, the film which premiered at the 2021 Hamwe Festival in Kigali, is a grasping motion picture that enlightens one of the serious effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.