Rising From Ashes World Premiere At Hamptons International Film Festival
“Rising From Ashes” will be making its world premiere at the Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) as part of the Golden Starfish Award Documentary Competition. The film follows five cyclists as they come together to form the first Team Rwanda and race for spots in the 2012 Olympics. It not only gives viewers a glimpse of Rwanda’s changing landscape but also invites viewers to share in its epic comeback story.
The idea for the documentary started in 2005 when director T.C Johnstone went over to Rwanda with friends Dan Cooper and Tom Ritchey to do a 150 mile bike ride around country to look and film issues in Rwanda including education, health care and genocide recovery. While they were there Cooper ran into local Rwandan cyclists he met on a previous trip and noticed that they really had talent. They rode with the cyclists one day and over dinner Ritchey mentioned they look like they have the potential genetically to become professional cyclist one day. This sparked the idea to help create team Rwanda and Johnstone decided to film the process. He said, “It was an incredible way to tell the story of the new Rwanada, show the recovery of Rwanda and help take away misconceptions about country. It’s a redemption story for the country”.
Johnstone wanted to give the audience a historical picture of the genocide in Rwanda, which is addressed the first four minutes. He wanted to make the audience feel like they were educated in a way that they could have a basic foundation for making a judgment on what happened there and where they stood.
The film shows the serenditious moment where the group meets the cyclists for Team Rwanda for the first time and shows the journey of the formation and training of Team Rwanda. Team founder Ritchey who created the Mountain bike had a close friend raced with in college, Jock Boyer who he recruited as team coach. Boyer was the first American to ride in the Tour de France and the right guy to help coach Team Rwanda.
In Rwanda sports are an incredible way to bring people together. Johnstone said that their were more bikes there than other in any other place in the world he has been to but they often do not use them in the traditional way. They are often used as a wheel barrow for the transportation of heavy
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