RISING FROM
ASHES,
AWARD-WINNING DOCUMENTARY FILM ABOUT TEAM RWANDA, COMING TO LOS ALAMOS ON MARCH 12
AWARD-WINNING DOCUMENTARY FILM ABOUT TEAM RWANDA, COMING TO LOS ALAMOS ON MARCH 12
Rising From Ashes, the award-winning feature-length documentary about
Team Rwanda, will premiere in Los Alamos on Wednesday, March 12 at 7 p.m. when
the cycling film screens at the Reel Deal Movie Theater. The event is co-sponsored
by the Tuff Riders Mountain Bike Club and the Los Alamos Singletrack
Association.
Rising From Ashes is a joyous and uplifting independent film about
the development of a national cycling team in Rwanda, a country still affected
deeply by the genocide that tore the East African nation apart in 1994.
Two worlds collide when cycling legend Jacques
“Jock” Boyer moves to Rwanda in 2006 to help a group of struggling survivors of
the genocide to pursue their dream of creating a national cycling team. Members
of the fledgling team were children left orphaned by the genocide a decade
earlier. Their pasts are painful. As they set out against impossible odds, both
Boyer – fighting his own past demons – and the team find new purpose as they
rise from the ashes of their pasts through remarkable achievements, both big
and small.
The documentary tells a story of redemption, hope
and second chances. It is not about the bike; however, the bicycle becomes a
tool that has helped change a nation.
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While Team Rwanda has taken care of the physical and
mental issues of the riders, it has also provided something greater – hope for
a nation. Rwanda is a country still recovering from one of the world’s most
devastating genocides and the country has longed for heroes. The riders of Team
Rwanda have become more than just a cycling team; they have become ambassadors
for a country rising from its ashes. They have given the small nation a vision
of something greater than itself and renewed a sense of purpose.
But Rising
From Ashes is more than a movie. It’s a story that relates to each and
every person. It’s a gateway of hope. However, this is just the beginning.
Since 2005, Team Rwanda has developed a model for caring for passionate
athletes and it has gone on to expand that vision. In 2012, Team Rwanda began
its next phase, the development of Africa’s first all-black, all-African team
to attempt the greatest cycling event in the world, the Tour de France, after
having qualified its first rider for the Olympic Games in London.
Daphne Howland of The Village Voice called Rising From Ashes “a remarkable
documentary. It’s not just about a cycling team; it’s a testament to what
happens when human beings care for one another.” “The film is crisp and
economical,” said Frank Schneck of The Hollywood Reporter. “The film … avoids
extraneous melodramatics, which, after all, are hardly necessary in a tale that
already contains such inherently powerful drama.”
The film is also about redemption for Boyer, who was
the first American rider to ever compete in the Tour de France back in 1983.
One of America’s most fabled riders, Boyer grew up in Northern California
battling long-time rival Tom Ritchey for national supremacy. Boyer left the
U.S. as a 17-year-old to compete in the Tour de France, but upon his return to
the United States after a prolific racing career in Europe, he lost it all. In
this period of darkness, in which Boyer was incarcerated for an improper
relationship with a minor, he reconnected with Ritchey, who had toured Rwanda –
known as the “land of a thousand hills” – on a cycling trip in 2005.
Ritchey approached Boyer with an unlikely
proposition – an offer to become coach of Rwanda’s first national cycling team.
The success of the team came down to Boyer’s decision to move to Rwanda and
invest himself completely in the project, gaining the trust of the riders he
coached.
Over six years in the making, Rising From Ashes was produced by two partnering non-profit
organizations, Gratis 7 Media Group and Project Rwanda. Narrated by Oscar
winner Forest Whitaker, the film has been completely donor-funded and was
produced through more than $800,000 in donated funds. Since its release in
2012, the film has won awards at more than a dozen film festivals worldwide.
Advance tickets are $11 and can be purchased online
at www.imathlete.com/events/risingfromashes. Tickets at the door will be $15. The Reel Deal
Movie Theater is located at 2551 Central Ave. in Los Alamos.
The Tuff Riders Mountain Bike Club cares for and
maintains the trails of the Pajarito Plateau and actively works to maintain and
ensure access to trails in the Los Alamos area. The Los Alamos Singletrack
Association is the local chapter of the International Mountain Bike Assocation
(IMBA). The two groups are in the process of merging into one entity.
For more information about the film, or to view the
trailer, go to www.risingfromashesthemovie.com, or on Facebook at Rising From Ashes The Movie.
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Media contact: Garry Harrington
603-209-5010
603-209-5010 gharrington3165 at hotmail dot com
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