Rwanda: Hope Rises

Rwanda: Hope Rises DVDs now available

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:28:00 +0000

At long last, the DVDs are now available. Check out the updated trailer page and head to the store to pick up your copy. While you're at it, become a fan on facebook.

It's been an amazing journey to get to this point. Thanks to everyone who has made this possible!

DVD Mailinglist

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Wed, 13 May 2009 05:46:00 +0000

I've added a DVD page to the site in anticipation of Rwanda: Hope Rises being available for purchase. Add your email to the list so you can be the first to know when the DVD is available.

We are currently looking at the possibility of an educational version of the DVD, designed for junior-high & highschools (and other educational instutions) wanting to do a unit on Rwanda. Rwanda: Hope Rises provides a unique perspective of both the conflict of 1994 and the reconciliation and rebuilding in the years since, and is viewable by a younger audience. Interested? Get in touch on the contact page.

Two more screenings

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 21:59:00 +0000

In Toronto or Portland? Check out two upcoming screenings on the screenings page.

Edinburgh Evening News Article

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 22:14:00 +0000

The Edinburgh Evening News reports on a recent screening of Rwanda: Hope Rises.

UWO Screening

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 04:33:00 +0000

If you're out near London, Ontario, head on over to the Wolf Perfomance Hall tomorrow night at 7pm for a screening of Rwanda: Hope Rises. Tickets are $5 at the door.

If you're in the area and not able to make it, never fear... we're arranging more screenings to happen soon in Toronto, Ottawa and a few nearby cities.

RSS Feed Added

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 08:57:00 +0000

If you're interested in keeping up on future screenings and news about Rwanda: Hope Rises, I've now added an RSS feed to the news page. Click here to grab it, or check in your address bar (your browser should automatically pick it up).

The RSS feed will automatically notify you anytime a news story or screening is posted, so you don't have to keep checking the website. Hope that helps!

West Coast Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 23:10:00 +0000

We're gearing up for a mini West Coast Tour with Rwanda: Hope Rises. Screenings are booked for Portland, Redding and Langley. Check out the screenings page for more info.

The cross-Canada tour is in the works now. We're working on dates from mid-Feb to early March. If you're interested in hosting a screening, get in touch.

New Poster

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:27:00 +0000

Our beautiful new poster, thanks to Andy Kerr of Akerr Design.

Nov. 18th Premiere Details

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 21:58:00 +0000

You are all invited to join us at our Canadian Premiere on November 18th, 2008 at the Vancity Theatre in Vancouver. Screenings are at 7PM & 8:45. Tickets are $8 in advance, $10 at the door.

You can buy your advance tickets here.

Premiering in Vancouver Nov. 18th!

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 21:05:00 +0000

Three and a half years, and it's finally ready. A quick note to say that Rwanda: Hope Rises will be premiering in Vancouver on Nov. 18th at the Vancity Theatre. Bring a friend...

Screenings in Fresno

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Wed, 14 May 2008 21:38:00 +0000

The day is finally coming... a preview cut of Rwanda: Hope Rises will screen in front of its first audience in Fresno, California this coming weekend. Three years of hard work, intense discussion and sweat equity have gone into this film. I'm looking forward to audiences finally being able to enjoy the people and stories I've been experiencing over the last three years.

Filming Progress in Rwanda

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 09:17:00 +0000

Production has been going very well here in Rwanda. We've travelled to the East of Rwanda with Elsie, taken aerials from a helicopter above the countryside, interviewed Arthur in his new Bourbon Coffee shop, and much more in between. We've hit several snags, including sickness, scheduling and equipment issues... but each one we've been able to overcome with a little bit of can-do and duct tape.

The RED Digital Cinema Camera continues to impress, though we've had a few growing pains. Check out the image link near the bottom of this page [→] to see why we're so excited about the RED.

We're working hard towards a Tuesday wrap here in Kigali, and then heading south to film in the Nyumbwe forest and at Lake Kivu before Lyn & Jesse leave on Sunday. I'll be staying on an extra week to pick up miscellaneous extra bits of footage and build out my photography portfolio of Rwanda.

Blogger.com (which runs the news portion of this site) has been intermittent at best, so the majority of the coverage of our trip is happening at our personal blogs, lynandjesse.com and trevormeier.com. Follow our progress there, and check out some of the past updates, including a photo gallery I've posted from the first part of the trip.

Return to Rwanda

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 22:22:00 +0000

Lyn, Jesse and I have packed our bags and are catching a plane... we're headed back to Rwanda.

We'll be travelling to Rwanda for two weeks with the fantastic new RED One, a 4K digital cinema camera. We have the honour of being the first 4K d-cinema shoot ever in Africa, and we hope to bring back beautiful images for such a beautiful country.

The trip will focus on capturing imagery to enhance our story. We'll also be catching up with several of our characters, filling in their stories with some of the events that have taken place since the start of production in 2005.

We're again partnering with our in-country hosts, The Wellspring Foundation, with assistance from the Bridgeway Foundation.

We're excited about the opportunity to capture Rwanda in beyond high-definition... and also excited to have a post-production schedule with a window for final picture editing. With some changes in my life, I'm now free to focus exclusively on the editing of the film after getting back to Canada in mid-February. The current schedule has us to picture lock in time for an early April screening of the film in Rwanda.

I'll be keeping regular posts here and on my personal site, trevormeier.com

Post-screening

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Thu, 03 May 2007 07:41:00 +0000

I've started reading through the feedback from the screening of the rough cut on April 21st. I'm impressed by how many people took the time to sit down and write out their thoughts... and at the quality of the overwhelmingly positive, constructive feedback.

I'm genuinely surprised at how much of a connection the audiences feel to this film, the story and the characters... especially given the current rough production values.

Here's some pull-quotes:

"As a Rwandan I felt that finally I was watching a film about Rwanda with real perspective... like I was watching one of my relatives speak to me."

"Amazing, captivating & enlightening"

"Poignant without being melodramatic. Very human."

... stuff like that makes it all worth it.

Update on our progress

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 07:06:00 +0000

I have yet to hear of a personal documentary project such as this one that didn't take at least twice the expected time to complete. This film is no exception :)

I've been making excellent progress on the editing in the last few months. Though it's been stop and start as life and passion play their intimate dance, I've begun see the complex story begin to take a meaningful shape. I wish everyone could experience the intricacy and depth of these stories as much as I have, sifting through the words and images again and again, finding the threads that connect one to each other. It's a dramatic story, filled with heartbreak and hope, and I only hope in the telling to mirror the vividness of the real thing.

We are holding a preview screening in a week to test of a few elements of the story... and to tame the rabid fans who've been waiting two years since we first began production :) Since the finished film won't be out for awhile longer, I wanted to give everybody a glimpse into the story... because it is an amazing story.

It won't be the full experience... much of the creativity and beauty will be put into the film at later stages. I'm particularly excited about the opportunity to return to Rwanda with a camera that can capture the beauty of the place and people in much better fidelity than what we've been working with. Though at each stage we've been cutting edge for a low-budget indie production, technology has advanced a great deal since we began. I think you'll be blown away if you get the chance to see this new footage on a large screen.

Come out if you can next Saturday. And if not... keep your eyes plugged here for more news.

Preview Screening

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 07:03:00 +0000

Two rough cut screenings of the film Rwanda: Hope Rises will be shown on April 21st at the Vancity Theatre at the Vancouver International Film Centre. I've cut together a half-hour of the film showcasing the primary storylines. We're having this screening to get your feedback on the film before we undertake the final stage of filming. We want you to be a film critic for a day! Please come out and join us at the event. I'll also be displaying my photography.

The two screenings will take place on Saturday afternoon at 1pm and 3pm and the event is open to the public at no charge. Donations will be accepted. The theatre is located at 1181 Seymour Street (at Davie) in Vancouver. Please invite your friends and family.

This event is generously being hosted by The Wellspring Foundation. If you could e-mail Richard to let him know how many will be coming from your group that would help us prepare for extra numbers... but if you decide to come last minute, all are welcome!

If you are on facebook you can see more details and RSVP by following this link.

Never Again is Again

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 08:10:00 +0000

Our friend Sara Macdonald is organizing a benefit concert for the film, entitled 'Never Again is Again'. The intention is both to raise money for the film, and raise awareness about the current situation in Darfur. While not as cohesive and identifiable as the events of the Rwandan genocide, they are no less serious.

You can check out more on their blog here.

[ UPDATE: ]
Tickets are now available at Zulu Records in Vancouver.

Ben Farrant.

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Sun, 09 Jul 2006 02:48:00 +0000

It's with grief that I report Ben Farrant, Production Assistant on Rwanda: Hope Rises, was killed on Thursday July 6th. He was struck from behind while riding his bike. (Langley Times article)

A memorial service will be held at Cedar Grove Baptist Church (the-grove.net) at 7pm Tuesday, July 11th.

Ben will be sorely missed. He was one of a kind.

Rwanda Benefit Prints - update

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 06:37:00 +0000

For those looking for a better view of the prints available for purchase, head on over here for a custom gallery of what's available. Instructions on how to order are available on the image pages (sorry, no e-commerce just yet).

The Tyee.ca

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Mon, 08 May 2006 03:08:00 +0000

Rwanda: Hope Rises gets a short mention at theTyee.ca. The article covers the recent upsurge in filmmaking interest about Africa.

Reuters article

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 20:20:00 +0000

A great article from Reuters (via Yahoo) talks about one of the reasons for doing our film.

Rwanda Prints

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 04:02:00 +0000

Many people have requested the chance to get their hands on some of the prints that were exhibited and sold at the benefit concert. I'm working on creating a more streamlined system, but in the meantime I'll post instructions here on how to make your order.

Click below for a list of the images and image numbers.

To order prints, send an email to prints@meiermg.com with the image number(s) and size(s) you'd like to order. I'll contact you with an address to mail a cheque, and we'll arrange cross-shipment of the prints. Print prices are below. I hope to have an e-commerce solution online soon, but in the meantime this will have to do.

4x6: $10
8x10: $40
12x18: $175
27x40: $400

All proceeds will go towards the completion of the film. Thanks!

Sunday's Benefit Concert

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 19:27:00 +0000

Sunday was a success! We had a nearly sold-out theatre, with three great bands, a selection of photographs for sale, and a 14-minute preview of the film. I watched the audiences response during the film, and was encouraged by many comments afterwards.

One quote from an email:

"Sunday was wonderful. Deeply moving, and left quite an impact on me - especially seeing that this was, in fact, not tribal warfare, but educated persons behind it all. I thought about it constantly for days."

I'll have pictures to post soon. Thank you all for your support!

Rwanda Benefit

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 00:19:00 +0000

There's a benefit concert Sunday April 9th for the Rwanda documentary... 7:30pm at the Chief Sepass Theatre in Fort Langley. $10 advance/$12 at the door. There's three sweet bands and a 10-minute preview of the film. I'll also be selling some prints of my photographs at the show. Proceeds go towards finishing the film. Come and bring your friends!

More details at www.eadoin.ca

April 9th Benefit & Sneak Peek

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor) — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 06:13:00 +0000

Eadoin Productions is putting on a benefit show April 9th to help Rwandans gain a voice through our film. Doubting Paris, Edmund and a special guest will be performing, photo prints will be available for sale, and a few other surprises are planned as well. To top it all off, we'll be showing a 10-minute sneak-peek of the film.

More details TBA here and on Eadoin's website. Check back soon!