The following is an announcement for a film. We have not seen it:
Follow Emmy-Award Winning Filmmaker Lisa Jackson
As She Travels Alone Through the War-Torn Jungles of Eastern Congo
When The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo Premieres TONIGHT, April 8 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on HBO
Since 1998, a brutal war has ravaged the Democratic Republic of Congo, 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. In the last ten years, hundreds of thousands of women and girls have been raped – but their suffering goes unacknowledged. Instead, they are invisible, shamed and mute.
The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo, winner of a Special Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, documents Filmmaker Lisa Jackson’s journeys to the war zones of eastern Congo to find survivors willing to bear witness to their experiences and break that silence. Jackson, a survivor of gang rape herself, interviews victims young and old, self-confessed rapists, activists, U.N. Peacekeepers, and woefully under-funded local law-enforcement officials, 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.
To watch footage from The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo go to: http://www.dailymotion.com/HBOclips
HBO and ENOUGH, a project of the Center for American Progress to end genocide and crimes against humanity, have teamed up to sponsor home screenings across the nation of The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo to promote awareness about what’s happening in the DRC encouraging audiences to view and discuss the film together.
Additionally, following a screening of the film on HBO2 (Tomorrow at 8 p.m. EST), HBO and ENOUGH have organized an open conference call tomorrow, April 9th at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT with Lisa F. Jackson; ENOUGH Co-Chair, John Prendergast; and Director of Public Policy at the Family Violence Prevention Fund, Kiersten Stewart to give viewers the opportunity to hear from the filmmaker directly, and learn more about both sexual violence crimes in the Congo and related, current US legislation (The International Violence Against Women Act - S.2279).
To learn more about these events (including hosting a screening and signing up for the conference call) go to: http://www.enoughproject.org/greatestsilence.
Listen as these women speak out for the first time when The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo premieres TONIGHT Tuesday, April 8th at 10 p.m.--only on HBO.