About Rising From Ashes
It's a phoenix story: uplifting, redemptive, nearly miraculous. Out of Rwanda, a country devastated by genocide in 1994, rises a team of scrappy cyclists, some riding to their first race on wooden bicycles. Now they're coming to Bend.
On Monday July 17, at McMenamin's, BendFilm will present two screenings of RISING FROM ASHES, the award-winning 2012 documentary that follows, and continues to support, Team Rwanda in its quest to reach the highest levels of the sport. Not to mention becoming a symbol of hope for the recovering country.
To that end the team, in only its second trip to the United States, is visiting central Oregon to race in the 37th Cascades Cycling Classic, July 20-24. Six riders will be at the screenings, including Gasore Hategeka, who is featured in the film, and team captain Bonaventure Uwizeyimana. Also coming are team head coach Sterling Magnell, team director of marketing and logistics Kimberly Coats, and Team Africa Rising founder Jock Boyer.
Boyer's story is almost as compelling as that of the riders. As the film reveals, Boyer, a disgraced professional road racer, moved to Rwanda in 2006 to help a group of struggling genocide survivors form a national cycling team. And, not incidentally, to resurrect his own life. "It's not just about a cycling team," wrote Daphne Howard in a review for The Village Voice. RISING FROM ASHES "is a testament to what happens when human beings care for one another."
"We wouldn't be coming to Bend," says logistics director Coats, "if it hadn't been for Adam." She is referring to local pro mountain biker Adam Bucklin, who saw the film in 2016 and contacted the team to offer his help. Since then, and sporting the Team Rwanda colors (green, yellow and blue), Bucklin has "been instrumental," Coates says, "in raising awareness for Team Rwanda over the last two years."
Proceeds from the McMenamin's screenings will go toward Team Rwanda's efforts, not just in developing cyclists - and they did send riders, one man and one woman, to the last two Olympic Games - but also to its expanded mission to improve literacy, food, water and healthcare in a place still feeling the aftereffects of its self-inflicted trauma.
"When you say Rwanda," Coats told an interviewer last year, "people still think genocide." Of Hutus and Tutsis and the mass slaughter of an estimated 500,000-1,000,000 men, women, and children. "Our riders...always say that they want Rwanda to be known as a land of cycling, and not for all the bad of the past. They see themselves as ambassadors of a new Rwanda and proof that people from different backgrounds can come together and race as one team."
RISING FROM ASHES (Directed by T.C. Johnstone, USA, 2012, 82 min.)
About BendFilm
BendFilm hosts an annual independent film festival as well as year-round film exhibitions and programs. The organization is designed to support and nourish filmmakers and enrich the cultural life of Central Oregon while also providing an economic benefit to the region. Celebrating its 14th year, BendFilm is proud to bring diverse voices and visions to the Bend community. The BendFilm Festival runs every October in downtown Bend, Oregon, at The Oxford, McMenamins - Old St. Francis, Regal Cinemas, Tin Pan Theater, The Volcanic Theater, Cascades Theatrical Company, and the historic Tower Theatre. Make plans now to attend October 12-15, 2017, for four days of inspiring independent cinema, panels and parties, in beautiful Bend, a mecca for outdoor enthusiasts, foodies, beer lovers and stunning natural scenery. BendFilm is made possible by a dedicated crew of volunteers and generous sponsors. For more information, call (541) 388-3378 or visit www.bendfilm.org.
- Trailer:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXfq0DxS4KM