"Greater North Kivu is a region in the East of the DRC characterized by an unending socio-cultural and political crisis that has brought about insecurity, war, massacres, and land conflicts since 1996. Efforts to resolve this war crisis to restore justice and peace have not been successful. The aim of this research was to evaluate the film practice in the Greater North Kivu region in the context of this war situation and if those films which were set against this reality had messages that focused on sustainable peace. The specific research questions of the study were: What could be the varying contexts of war and related conflicts from which each of the selected films acquires its character? In what way do the cinematographic messages reflect the context of war in the Greater North Kivu? How do the thematic messages aim to sensitize the population towards peace in the region? What are the opportunities and challenges of film making for peace in the region? What construct emerges as a typology of context and types of persuasion messages that may emerge from selected films of the study. The study adopted a qualitative research design, and constructivism and interpretivism philosophical research paradigms. The target population consisted of film makers in the Greater North Kivu, civil society, community and government leaders. The study concluded that the multiple contexts of the war manifest in the character of the variety of films produced but that the film codes reflecting this reality aim to break and change it thereby creating a new grammar for a new context. In addition, the film for sensitizing works with strategies of arousing emotions that are carefully selected with great sensitivity because of the fragile context of the war situation in its causes, consequences, and what is to be done. The thesis of this study is that the many contexts of the war situation in the region of study manifest themselves in the selected films chosen for the research. In a simultaneous manner the film maker’s codes aim to break the existing contexts to new beginnings. While the film codes may be of the grammar of existing context, their very ambition and motivation is to introduce a new grammar for a vision of a new context, transforming the old one. Based on the findings of the current study, the study recommends the film makers to continue to use potent symbolism in their stories to effectively sensitize the population to the situation and promote the necessary actions. The study recommends to the government and policymakers makers to allocate resources towards the Ministry of Arts and Culture to support local film production, recognizing its potential as a tool for peacebuilding and societal change." (Abstract)

Thesis of Cardinal Foley Scholarship Fund (CFSF) beneficiary