Trees of Peace

Poignant.

Important.

Heart breaking.

Raw.

I knew what I was getting myself into when I started this movie but I was not prepared. The performances are all impeccable, the emotions conveyed had me grabbing at my chest. These women both in real life and the ones that movie is based off of deserve their flowers.

The Rwandan genocide has always been an incredibly hard subject to tackle in media, trying to find a balance between not oversimplifying it and not trying to make it torture porn. This film finds that balance without fail. The fact that I was hooked the entire time when 99% of the film takes place in one room says something.

There are films so impactful that they change your perspective, and this is one of those films. How the story is presented and filmed is unique, rarely done, and this was executed perfectly. The cast had amazing chemistry and connected well together. Highly recommended!

This movie tells the stories of 4 women in a extraordinary situation, against the backdrop of a the Rwanda genocide. The film speaks to the heart of women and brings their struggles into focus.

More important than that, it amplifies the voices of the unseen in Rwanda. It sheds light on the horrors they faced, and it invites the viewer to feel their pain, hope their hopes, and dream their dreams. It's truly a beautiful film.

There are few films these days that make it into the category of true "must see" films. While I had knowledge of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, the tragedies and horrific crimes against humanity committed felt very far away and disconnected from my own life. Trees of Peace gives the viewer a personal perspective of what it's like to live and die in a hell that the majority of us will never have to face.

The audience benefits from the well thought decisions made by the Director. Each scene is craftily curated, and preplanned to the point that one feels that they are experiencing the film alongside the characters as opposed to only observing it. These characters that we sit beside are fully formed people with real dialog, who we can all relate to in some capacity, and because of this it is easy to remain engaged in the story happening all around us.

The cast members are lost in the characters. We never see actors, but instead they disappear into their God given talent and skill in front of the camera and we as the audience only believe we are watching life itself, and not art imitating it.

I believe Trees of Peace gives another voice to people in the global conversation of freedom and equality that may have been overlooked, and I applaud the efforts and sacrifices of the Producer to present this gift to the world.

This piece of cinema uses a news story to remind us all of how fragile our lives are and it teaches us how we can behave and how we can relate to one another, regardless of our background.

I feel this film could have been great if it just gave the viewer a little more than we got, the dialogue for this film was really great and the cinematography really makes the viewer feel like they are trapped inside the room with them. The story is where I find the biggest flaw, we get some okay character development but thats where it ends. The film closes out with nothing at the end, just cut off, and in a movie like this where character and dialogue is key we only got one half of the pie. We spend 90% of the film learning about the characters for nothing. Decent film tho.