On the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, SwissABILITY aims to highlight the difficulties and challenges that people with disabilities still face today in the Global South, as well as in Switzerland.

Therefore, we have decided to organize the screening of the movie “Downstream to Kinshasa” (directed by Dieudo Hamadi; 2020). The movie focuses on the survivors of the Six-Day War, a series of armed clashes between Ugandan and Rwandan forces around the city of Kisangani in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, from June 5 to June 10, 2000. For two decades, the victims of this war, deeply affected by violence with various amputations, have fought in vain for the recognition of this bloody conflict and to obtain compensation. Tired of fruitless appeals, they decided to assert their claims in the capital, Kinshasa, after an adventurous journey along the Congo River. The documentary tells the personal stories of the survivors and the challenges they face daily due to amputations. It follows them on their expedition towards the hope for a better tomorrow.

The screening will be followed by a discussion with a panel of experts and a friendly cocktail hour to conclude the evening.

The scheduling of the event will be the following:
3.00 pm: Greetings and Introduction by SwissABILITY and Festival dei Diritti Umani Lugano.
3.15 pm: Start of the screening
4.50 pm: Debate: “Difficulties and Challenges of People with Disabilities, from the Global South to Switzerland”
5.40 pm: Final thanks and Closing of the Debate. Followed by a cocktail hour until 7:30 PM.

The event is organized in collaboration with Film Festival Diritti Umani Lugano with the contribution of: Fondazione Diritti Umani, Iniziativa per l’inclusione, Ortho Team, Amnesty International, AEM Azienda elettrica di Massagno, Borgovecchio Vini, Comune di Massagno, Microbirrificio Mómó and Spinelli SA.