Community Cinema and our series partners are excited to present two free screenings of Pushing the Elephant in March. When civil war came to Rose Mapendo’s Congolese village, she was separated from her five-year-old daughter, Nangabire. Rose managed to escape with nine of her 10 children and was eventually resettled in Phoenix, Arizona. More than a decade later, mother and daughter are reunited in the U.S. where they must come to terms with the past and build a new future.
Rose has been a voice for refugees especially women who have been victims of violence in the civil war zones of her country. In September 2010 she and filmmakers Beth Davenport and Elizabeth Mandel made a visit to Washington, DC for a special event featuring “Pushing the Elephant” in the U.S. House of Representatives to raise awareness about violence against women and girls.
Playwright Lynn Nottage also spent time with refugee women from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) before penning her Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Ruined” which will open at Arena Stage’s Mead Center for American Theater in April (and run through June). The Humanities Council of Washington, DC has launched a new initiative, Live to Read: DC’s Citywide Celebration of Literature with a city read of “Ruined.” In the play, Lynn Nottage tells the story of violence against women in the DRC, a country devastated by years of civil war. The drama is loosely based on Bertholt Brecht’s play “Mother Courage and Her Children.” However, after meeting the women, Nottage said she took a different turn from Brecht.
Copies of “Ruined” will be given away as door prizes at the screenings of “Pushing the Elephant” along with more information about the “Live to Read” initiative and its partners.
Community partners for the screenings of “Pushing the Elephant” include the Humanities Council of Washington, DC Live to Read 2011, Congo Global Action, and the National Capital Chapter of the US National Committee of UN Women.
Community Cinema dates for “Pushing the Elephant” are Sunday, March 13 at 3 PM (Washington DC Jewish Community Center); and Sunday March 27 at 5 PM (Busboys and Poets, 14th & V Streets, NW). Click on this link for reservations, or call 202-939-0794. Community Cinema is FREE and open to the public.
Print a flyer for “Pushing the Elephant” from this link.
Download the discussion guide for “Pushing the Elephant.”
Filmmaker Daniel Birman puts the spotlight on Washington, DC in his post on the national Community Cinema blog about the “Me Facing Life: Cyntoia’s Story” events at Busboys and Poets and the Washington, DC Jewish Community Center. Read the entire post at this 
