23/09/2025 - Marie-Hélène Roux delivers a poignant film paying tribute to Nobel Peace Prize winner Denis Mukwege, the Congolese surgeon who cares for female victims of sexual violence

"It’s not enough just to do good, Denis. You have to tell people about it." A spokesperson for a brutally moving cause, a man tirelessly delivering on his medical oath, to the point of putting his own life at risk, and tens of thousands of female victims of atrocities, all fall within the scope of filmmaker Marie-Hélène Roux’s second feature, Muganga, which scooped three trophies (the Audience Award, the Student Jury Prize and Best Actor) at the Angoulême Francophone Film Festival and which is due for release in French cinemas on 24 September, courtesy of L’Atelier Distribution and with support from Angelina Jolie, among others, as executive producer.

"This sexual violence isn’t your reality, but it is the reality of Congolese women, who are unjustly subjected to vile acts of barbarism (…) This violence is deliberate and thought out, with the aim of terrorising populations in order to enjoy free rein illegally exploiting minerals such as coltan, a key component for manufacturing our mobile phones and our computers." It’s 2011 in Brussels, and Doctor Denis Mukwege (Isaach de Bankolé) is accepting the King Baudouin International Development Prize. Adventurous and inventive Belgian surgeon Guy Cadière (Vincent Macaigne), who’s in the audience, is moved, and soon ends up lending Mukwege a helpful hand in Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There, in the heart of a secure compound and in the midst of a menacing climate ("I’m afraid we can’t guarantee you or your family’s future", tense checkpoints, anonymous calls, intruders), the two men work together but they also get to know one another as they try to help a procession of women piece themselves back together after being totally destroyed physically and psychologically.

Based around its two brilliant male leads, the film brings a myriad of women to life as the story unfolds, sharing an array of chilling testimonies (based on a screenplay penned by the director and Jean-René Lemoine) and a trail of pain which eats away at the spirit of resilience running through Panzi Hospital. With absolute clarity, warmth and adequate authenticity, Marie-Hélène Roux depicts this medical microcosm where giving meaning to life is crucial, over and above any doubts or despondency (which Mukwege isn’t immune to either, in spite of his faith). The film doesn’t scale any cinematographic summits, but it does convey a powerful message ("how do you cope with all of this?” – “I fix them, but they fix me too")" and pays poignant tribute to these broken women and to this man devoted to his conscience, to his cause and to his role as a medical professional (a Muganga). A man who has taken care of more than 80,000 women who have survived often atrocious sexual violence, a man decorated with the 2018 Novel Peace Prize and still working today, but also a man imprisoned within the compound of his hospital, which he can only leave under high protection to this day.

Muganga was produced by Petites Poupées Production in co-production with France 3 Cinéma, CANEX Creations Inc. (Afreximbank), Kalliopé, Scope Pictures, RTBF and Proximus. Be for Films are steering international sales.

(Translated from French)