Act of Kindness

A young New Zealander goes on the search for the Rwanadan Samaritan who helped him through a dangerous predicament a decade ago in this documentary co-directed by Costa Botes (The Last Dogs of Winter).

"In 1999, Sven Pannell, a Kiwi traveller in Africa, escaped from a perilous run-in with Rwandan soldiers, bargaining for his life with a wad of cash he had hidden in his boot. Broke and without any place to stay, Pannell came across a crippled, homeless samaritan named Johnson, who fed and sheltered him until he was able to flee the region. He left in such a hurry he never got the chance to thank him.

"A decade later, Pannell returned to Rwanda with the hope of doing just that. Armed with a camera and a surfeit of optimistic pluck, he launches a dogged hunt for the man who generously came to his aid all those years ago – plastering up flyers, searching through registries, even broadcasting his compelling testimony to millions via Rwandan radio." (New Zealand International Film Festival)

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