Knocking on Heaven's Door

Title: Knocking on Heaven’s Door
Format: Short film
Length: Approx. 35 minutes
Genre: Drama / Psychological / Political
Setting: A European city (present day) and an unnamed African country (past and flashbacks)

Cast: Carole Karemera, Jared Mcneill, Sean O'calaghan, Ery Nzaramba

Written, directed, produced by Ery Nzaramba

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Synopsis

Knocking on Heaven’s Door is a haunting and emotionally layered drama that explores the aftermath of war, the enduring scars of genocide, and the human need for reckoning and release. The film follows Keshava, a man who once participated in mass killings during a brutal civil conflict in his homeland. Years after the genocide, now released from prison and consumed by guilt, Keshava makes a journey to Europe to confront Mandi, the sister of his closest childhood friend Darvin, whom he murdered during the genocide.

As the film opens, Keshava arrives on a freezing morning at a residential alley, clutching a handwritten address. He stands in front of Mandi’s home, where she now lives with Sam, an Irishman she met years before during his travels to her country. Keshava does not knock immediately. Instead, he waits, haunted by the weight of his past and the significance of this moment.

The narrative then unfolds through a series of flashbacks that reveal the intertwined histories of Keshava, Mandi, and Darvin. We see the close friendship between Keshava and Darvin in their youth, Keshava’s heartbreak over Mandi’s departure to Europe, and the growing political unrest that spirals into ethnic violence and genocide. Mandi leaves with Sam, believing it to be a brief holiday, but as violence erupts back home, her country is plunged into horror.

Darvin’s death—at the hands of Keshava—is revealed slowly and painfully. Through a chilling monologue, Keshava recounts how fear, peer pressure, and survival instincts led him to betray and murder his best friend. He did it not out of hate, but to prove his allegiance to the killers, fearing they would suspect him of protecting Darvin. The act becomes a defining fracture in his soul.

Years later, Keshava has tracked Mandi down, not for vengeance or redemption, but to tell the truth—to finally look her in the eye and own what he has done. When he eventually knocks, Mandi is overcome with shock. Sam, initially unaware of the full backstory, attempts to protect her, calling the police and confronting Keshava. But Mandi insists she must speak with Keshava herself.

In a tense and emotionally charged final act, the three sit together around a table. Keshava confesses in full, placing before Mandi the letter her brother had begun to write her before his death. As Keshava tells the story of Darvin’s final moments, both he and Mandi are visited by the ghost of Darvin—who gently declares that they can now both rest.

The film ends on a note of uneasy grace. Not forgiveness, not reconciliation, not closure—but the shared recognition of unbearable loss, and a first step toward living with it.