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BERMUDA | RSS PODCAST

Joyous tale of Rwanda drum troupe and an ice cream shop

Sweet Dreams – close-up of drummer – Photo by Lex Fletcher.

The Rwandan genocide in 1994 serves as a backdrop for ‘Sweet Dreams’, a thumping, empowering and joyous portrayal of Rwanda’s 60-woman drum troupe, and the first ice cream store in Rwanda.Comprised of women from both sides of the 1994 conflict, the troupe, called ‘Ingoma Nshya’, offers support, healing and reconciliation to those women left broken and jaded by the mass-killings.Partnering with two young American entrepreneurs, the group goes on to open Rwanda’s first ice cream shop, which acts as a catalyst for a journey toward self-discovery, peace, and independence.Though the roads and buildings have been repaired since the devastation of 1994, Kiki Katese, a theatre director in Rwanda, asks: “How do we rebuild a human being?”Katese decided to start Ingoma Nshya with one requirement: women check their past allegiances at the gate.For the women, the group has been a place to begin life anew and heal the wounds of the past. But ever persistent is the struggle to not only provide for their families, but to survive.When Katese got the idea to open Rwanda’s first and only ice cream shop, the drum troupe was intrigued, primarily because few of them had any idea what ice cream actually was.After inviting the owners of Brooklyn’s Blue Marble Ice Cream to come help them open their own shop, the film weaves a poignant, sometimes heart-rending tale of the women as they build a new, brighter future for themselves through their own ice cream parlour, lyrically called ‘Inzozi Nziza’ - ‘Sweet Dreams’.‘Sweet Dreams’ is being shown as part of the Bermuda Docs film festival at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute. It is being shown on Sunday at 5.15pm.