Sweet Dreams

Sibling filmmakers Rob and Lisa Fruchtman's Sweet Dreams follows the all-woman Rwandan drum troupe Ingoma Nshya as they open an ice cream shop in their home city of Butare. Most of the participants were orphaned or widowed during the 1994 genocide that left an estimated one million Tutsis dead; a few are related to Hutus who killed friends and neighbors in the slaughter. Ten years later, Odile Gakire Katese established the ensemble to create new opportunities for women and new memories for Rwandans. Inter-titles and archival footage document the tragic past, while group members describe how they survived. Speaking at national memorials, Rwandan President Paul Kagame calls on the people to change their lives for the better, and Ingoma drummers explain how they've discovered previously unknown talents, leadership abilities, and healing through the organization. Katese persuades Brooklyn's Blue Marble Ice Cream to partner with Ingoma, providing a chance for economic development and positive experiences for Butare's citizens, and the Fruchtmans follow along as the women renovate a storefront, investigate local ingredient sources, and learn how to describe and serve ice cream to people who've never seen it. Tensions arise as not everyone can afford to invest in the co-op and not all can be chosen to work in the shop. And the suspense builds as Blue Marble volunteers wrestle with a recalcitrant ice cream machine just before opening day. Sweet Dreams closes with an exhilarating performance uniting Ingoma Nshya with a company of male drummers, nicely encapsulating the themes of unity and reconciliation. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (M. Puffer-Rothenberg)