Love Radio

The year 2014 marks 20 years since almost one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were murdered. Virulent hate campaigns in the media were at the heart of the genocide. On the same frequency that in 1994 incited the murder of the Tutsi ‘inyenzi’ (cockroaches), the radio soap Musekeweya today broadcasts a message of reconciliation. The soap is immensely popular, with millions tuning in to the weekly episodes, between 8.45 and 9.15 pm. The radiosoap seems to be a fairly normal soap at first, full of intrigues and villains and a "Romeo and Juliet" romance. But the soap is supposed to do more than just entertain; it is also intended to convey to listeners how violence against other groups begins and how it can be prevented. The photographs are part of the transmedia documentary Love Radio - in collaboration with writer Eefje Blankevoort - about the process of reconciliation in post-genocide Rwanda, based on the popular radio soap 'Musekeweya' (New Dawn). It consists of a web documentary, mobile Tap stories and an exhibition. The project straddles the thin line between fact and fiction. At first glance it tells a linear, almost fairy-tale narrative. But a closer look reveals the complex reality. While in the soap happy endings predominate, reconciliation in real life is rather more intransigent. After the gruesome killings, how can perpetrators and victims live with and love each other? www.loveradio-rwanda.org