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EQUALS on Film: Pushing The Elephant

Directed by Beth Davenport and Elizabeth Mandel

  • Human Rights Watch - Official Selection

Synopsis

Pushing The Elephant chronicles the story of Rose Mapendo and how she escaped from the ethnic violence of the Democratic Republic of Congo to become a vital voice to help mend her divided country. She has assisted dozens of
survivors to recover and rebuild their lives. But there is still one person Rose must teach to forgive – her daughter Nangabire.

About the director

Beth Davenport and Elizabeth Mandel

Beth Davenport, Director/Producer

Having worked in various capacities at Big Mouth since 2003, Beth brings over eight years of production and outreach experience in television, commercials and award-winning documentaries for P.O.V., Sundance Channel, BBC and Arte France as well as directing advocacy videos and short films. Film credits include: the Emmy-nominated film Deadline, Thomas Balmes' Wrongful Death and
Election Day. Beth is currently a producer at Arts Engine, Inc./Big Mouth Films and is producing Asexuality: The Making of a Movement, directed by Angela Tucker and directing Pushing The Elephant. Davenport was a mentor for the IFP Documentary Rough Cut Lab for three years and is a NYFA Fellow. She graduated with a degree in Sociology and Peace and Conflict Resolution from Wayne State University.

Elizabeth Mandel, Director/Producer

Mandel produced the film Arctic Son (premiered at Full Frame, 2006, broadcast on POV in 2007) with Dallas Brennan Rexer. She was a co-producer on Jennifer Fox's film and six part series, Flying: Confessions of a Free Woman, served as an associate producer for Jasmine Dellal’s When the Road Bends…Tales of a Gypsy Caravan, and was the producer of the Deadline DVD. She directs and produces educational videos for non-profit organizations such as Johns Hopkins Medical Center’s Project Restore, in addition to producing spots for Nickelodeon and Sundance Channel. She recently created a series of five educational and
organizational videos for Jewish Women International, designed to heighten awareness around the issue of gender-based violence in the Jewish community. She is a 2008 NYFA Fellow.

  • “One person alone cannot push the elephant, but many people together can.” – Rose Mapendo

More Information

In the late 1990s, Rose Mapendo lost her family and home to the violence that engulfed the Democratic Republic of Congo. She emerged advocating forgiveness and reconciliation. In a country where ethnic violence has created seemingly irreparable rifts among Tutsis, Hutus and other Congolese, this remarkable woman is a vital voice in her beleaguered nation’s search for peace. Now, Rose is confronted with teaching one of her most recalcitrant students how to forgive— Nangabire, the daughter who remained behind.

When war came to Rose’s village, she was separated from her five-year-old daughter, Nangabire. Rose managed to escape with nine of her ten children and was eventually resettled in Phoenix, Arizona. Over a decade later, mother and daughter are reunited in the US where they must face the past and build a new
future.

We follow Rose and Nangabire over the course of a year as they make up for lost time. Rose struggles to find balance in her life as a mother of ten and a full-time advocate for refugees. She serves as the Ambassador for Mapendo International, a humanitarian organization named in Rose’s honor that protects and cares for forgotten refugees. Her speaking engagements have her traveling around the
world from the White House to the UNHCR in Geneva to peace talks in Congo.

Meanwhile Nangabire, now seventeen, must adapt to America and discover how she fits into the sprawling Mapendo family. As mother and daughter get to know one another, they must come to terms with a painful past, and define what it means to be a survivor, a woman, a refugee and an American.

Through this intimate family portrait unfolding against the wider drama of war, we will explore the long-term and often hidden effects of war on women and families, particularly those in traditional societies—financial despair, increased susceptibility to rape, and social ostracism. Pushing The Elephant captures one
of the most important stories of our age, a time when genocidal violence is challenged by the moral fortitude and grace of one woman’s mission for peace.

Choose a version

  • EQUALS on Film: Pushing The Elephant: EQUALS: Pushing The Elephant

    Description
    Available for screenings from 8th March 2011, which is the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day
    Running time
    80 mins
    Rating
    Audio languages
    English
    Subtitle languages
    English