Small Country: an African Childhood

Ten-year-old Gabriel lives a relatively carefree life with his parents, friends and little sisters in a luxurious expatriate neighbourhood in Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi, which he affectionately calls his 'little country'. This carefree life changes dramatically when in 1993 tensions in neighbouring Rwanda run high between the Hutus and the Tutsis. This conflict spread to Burundi, where the population also consists largely of Hutu and Tutsi. In 1995, a terrible civil war breaks out, which totally disruptes Gabriel's life.

Small Country: an African Childhood is a film adaptation of the bestseller of the same name by Gaël Faye, who wrote the book on the basis of his own childhood experiences. The civil war in Burundi, with the Rwandan genocide in the background, forms a harrowing chapter in modern history, which in this film is told through the eyes of an innocent child who will be scarred by it for the rest of his life.