HBO documentary "The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo" (updated)

I was tipped off to this documentary from reading Aunt Jemima’s Revenge blog. I’m posting this as an fyi for those who’d like to catch it while it’s airing on HBO. I enjoy documentaries, and this one looks powerful. I’ll post again once I get myself to see it (looks like one that you have to have your head right before watching it)

UPDATE 4/17: I’ve seen the documentary and am absolutely speechless and deeply saddened. It is impossible to have your “head right”, as I alluded to originally, and be able to watch this documentary and not be affected. This is not just rape (as if that isn’t enough), this is rape with barbaric brutality. I’ll stop there and let you see for yourself.

Break out your box of kleenex ladies AND gents and prepare to be enlightened, angered, powerless, and then angered all over again…Kudos to HBO for airing this, and let this be another striking call to action by America.

And before you Americans jump on your holy high horse and refer to these people as savages, just wait until the stories start trickling in about the atrocities we’ve committed in Iraq in the name of peacekeeping. Need I remind you of Abu Ghraib?

Great work Lisa Jackson!

There are many sources to read more about the situation in The Democratic Republic of Congo. Here’s just an article link to get you started: http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/07/23/news/genocide.php and for the IRC.

Click here for a list of show times. You will now find it on On Demand as well.

(excerpt from HBO.com…Synopsis)

The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo
Shot in the war zones of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), this documentary feature explores the shocking plight of women and girls caught in the sexual crossfire as this giant African nation enters its second decade of internal conflict. Since 1998, a brutal war has ravaged the DRC, killing over 4 million people. Over the same time, tens of thousands of women and girls have been systematically kidnapped, raped, mutilated and tortured by soldiers – both from foreign militias and the Congolese army that is supposed to protect them. Emmy®-winning filmmaker Lisa F. Jackson, herself a survivor of gang rape, travels deep inside the DRC to understand what is happening and why. Her resultant film features interviews with survivors, activists, peacekeepers, physicians and, most chillingly, two groups of rapists who are soldiers of the Congolese Army. Above all, it highlights first-person accounts of dozens of rape survivors, who recount their stories with pulverizing honesty and immediacy. Heart-wrenching in its portrayal of the grotesque realities of life in Congo, the film also provides inspiring examples of resiliency, courage and grace, while serving as a call to action for anyone with a conscience.

UPDATE 4/25/08:  Here is a link to get you started on the history in the DRC:  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/country_profiles/1076399.stm

hopefully this will get you motivated to learn more about what has been happening there.  Let’s keep the dialog rolling.