Where Hope Lives
Recently added to the catalogue of the streaming platform Netflix, Where Hope Lives is a powerful documentary that portrays the reality of women brutalised by sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo who recover from physical and emotional trauma in a kind of women's rehabilitation centre called City of Joy.
The documentary follows the journey of the first class of students at this remarkable centre, created by the gynaecologist Dr Denis Mukwege (nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2016) in partnership with the playwright Eve Ensler (The Vagina Monologues) and the human rights activist Christine Schuler-Deschryve. Here, several women receive medical and psychological treatment, as well as self-defence classes and self-esteem exercises, with the aim of tackling psychological injuries and motivating other women who have been through devastating situations of extreme violence. In this way, the women at the centre acquire attributes that will enable them to become leaders in their communities, teaching other women to defend themselves.
Where Hope Lives, directed by Madeleine Gavin, has a dense soundtrack and a heavy atmosphere, yet it allows us to see that, beyond the catastrophe, there is hope, and it is inspiring to note that the victims, together, manage to glimpse a new ideal of community, moving from survivors to leaders.
