Talking About Rose, narrated by Oscar-winning actress Juliette Binoche and directed by Isabel Coixet examines the life and death of Rose Lokissim a prisoner of Hissène Habré, the former dictator of Chad.
Survivors of Habré’s jails remember Rose as a brave inmate who took care of the sick and kept up the prisoners’ morale. She also delivered clandestine messages to the outside world to inform relatives of their loved ones inside. Ultimately, Habré’s political police, the DDS, learned of the messages and murdered her.
Among the DDS files uncovered in 2001 by Human Rights Watch was the police report of Rose’s last interrogation. Rose’s questioners wrote that Rose said that even if they killed her, “Chad will thank her and history will talk about her.”
Over 30 years later, Rose’s courage was finally remembered as Hissène Habré was finally convicted for crimes against humanity in 2015.
