Nicole Avant Talks Netflix’s Rwandan Genocide-Set Drama ‘Trees of Peace’ and Wanting to Make Movies That Affect the Human Spirit
Angelique Jackson When “Trees of Peace,” a drama set during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, surged into the top 10 English-language films on Netflix in June, some may have been amazed that a low-budget, albeit critically acclaimed indie was among the most-watched movies of the week. But executive producer Nicole Avant (“The Black Godfather”) wasn’t among them. “It was incredible. I was surprised how quickly it got so much attention, but I wasn’t surprised,” Avant tells Variety about learning that the film racked up more than 9.3 million hours viewed in those first few days. To Avant, the numbers indicated that audiences was ready for and interested in stories like this, despite its heavy subject matter.