<p>An African science fiction film evolving as a flash back is an opportunity and challenge, taken up by almost the entire group of Cinema professionals in Burundi. Through a co-production of a local production House, Netty Communication and La Benevolencija, an international NGO active in media campaigns in the Great Lakes, all partners decided to engage in this adventure of producing a fiction film with animation and cartoon sequences. Due to the conflict history of the last 20 years, Burundi couldn t present any long length fiction film to its national public or to international viewers. Now, despite a tight production budget, cast and crew started to produce this feature film with a clear intention not just to cope with the international standards in shooting HD and presenting a production with proper sound design, but also to amaze and tell their story, a shortcut of the Burundian history, and also a story common to the entire region that has been devastated by ethnic conflict and genocides for a long time. In fact, i MASHŌKA, is a story about ineluctable psychological mechanisms of changing attitudes and behaviours raising to conflict between groups, once frustration of basic needs or material resources appears.</p> <p><strong>&nbsp;i MASHŌKA reflects what is commonly known as the evolution of fear and anger, leading up to feelings of hate and resulting often in acts of violence. On the other hand, I Mashoka is also a story about overcoming these negative ideologies, based upon understanding and recognising triggers, deep love and the ultimate positive results of friendship. In fact, i MASHŌKA is a universal story. Established in 2002, Radio La Benevolencija Humanitarian Tools Foundation (RLB) is a Dutch NGO committed to the empowerment of minorities and social groups that are, have been or are in danger of becoming, the victims of ethnocentric or other forms of hate violence. It promotes an agenda of sanity, empathy and mutual help among those who are the target of hate speech, as well as among societies that have suffered its consequences. It is strictly non-ethnic, non-denominational and non-governmental. Radio La Benevolencija HTF takes as its role model La Benevolencija Sarajevo, a local organization that played a unique humanitarian role during the Bosnian war (1992-1995). It is as a result of the work of <strong>founding Director, George Weiss, for this organization that, in 2002, a group of Amsterdam-based media professionals was inspired to set up an organisation to produce media projects in La Benevolencija Sarajevo unique spirit of solidarity with, and empowerment of, people who are the targets of hate violence. Using a combination of edutainment methodologies and comparative psychological research, RLB media intervention in Rwanda, the DRC and Burundi is a prototype campaign to embed, in national audiences, scientific knowledge of how to resist the psychological pressures and demagoguery that turn individuals into perpetrators of mass hate. RLB radio soaps, factual documentaries and educational programmes, in combination with grassroots activities, convey this knowledge while simultaneously stimulating best practices of active bystandership. Regular parallel impact evaluations are conducted to measure the effectiveness of this Intervention tool and to ensure that the strategies and methodologies are attuned to specific contexts. The educational component of La Benevolencija radio (and recent Film &amp; television) programs, and grassroots activities, is informed by the research and theory of Professor Ervin Staub of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst on the origins of genocide and other mass violence, their prevention, and reconciliation, and on Dr. Laurie Anne Pearlman s work on trauma and recovery. They and their associates (Rezarta Bilali, Adin Thayer and Johanna Vollhardt) are involved in developing and editing programs in Rwanda, Burundi, and the Congo (DRC). Much of this work is described in Staub s 2011 book, Overcoming Evil: Genocide, violent conflict and terrorism. </strong></strong></p>