A number of films at this year’s Full Frame raised questions for me about issues related to memory, identity, and storytelling. As Amir Bar-Lev reminds us, in Full Frame’s programming notes, that documentary is a “strange and problematic medium where journalism and art meet,” and many of this year’s films reflect overtly or more subtly about the role of storytelling and its relationship to memory, identity, and in some cases, politics. Patrick Reed’s Fight Like Soldiers, Die Like Children, which had its North American premiere at Full Frame, depicts the efforts of Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire, a witness to the Rwanda …...
- 4/7/2013
- by Chuck Tryon
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Paul Rusesabagina has received the Lantos Human Rights prize, but his role as hero of the genocide should be examined
If true, the story of Paul Rusesabagina, as told in the 2004 film Hotel Rwanda, would be truly inspirational. Here is a Rwandan who faced down the militia to protect the terrorised families who had sought shelter at the five-star Hotel des Mille Collines in Kigali. He alone had heroically saved hundreds of people.
At that time the hotel was owned by the Belgian company Sabena, and it had the benefit of an outside telephone line. The film is based on events that purportedly took place at the hotel during the genocide of the Tutsi in 1994.
Rusesabagina was awarded the Lantos Human Rights prize in Washington on Wednesday, but it has sparked controversy in Rwanda, because the real story of why the people who took refuge at the hotel were spared...
If true, the story of Paul Rusesabagina, as told in the 2004 film Hotel Rwanda, would be truly inspirational. Here is a Rwandan who faced down the militia to protect the terrorised families who had sought shelter at the five-star Hotel des Mille Collines in Kigali. He alone had heroically saved hundreds of people.
At that time the hotel was owned by the Belgian company Sabena, and it had the benefit of an outside telephone line. The film is based on events that purportedly took place at the hotel during the genocide of the Tutsi in 1994.
Rusesabagina was awarded the Lantos Human Rights prize in Washington on Wednesday, but it has sparked controversy in Rwanda, because the real story of why the people who took refuge at the hotel were spared...
- 11/17/2011
- by Linda Melvern
- The Guardian - Film News
On a given day, weeks after the genocide waged by Hutu extremists against Tutsis and Hutu moderates had begun in the streets of Kigali, General Roméo Dallaire, the Canadian Force Commander of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Rwanda (Unamir), slowly walks down a empty road, littered with debris left by people fleeing for their lives. The only sound is that of a piece of plastic he is kicking aimlessly with the side of his boot—and the distant sound of gunfire. Behind him a fellow office warns him not to stray ahead of the rest of the troops, not to make himself an open target. But it seems Dellaire is beyond caring and he continues to stroll without purpose down the road. Death by a sudden bullet would be a relief.
But how much of what happened in Rwanda that April in 1994 could Dallaire have prevented? So asks Roger Spottiswoode...
But how much of what happened in Rwanda that April in 1994 could Dallaire have prevented? So asks Roger Spottiswoode...
- 11/11/2010
- CinemaSpy
There have been several recent films looking back on the African genocide, including The Last King of Scotland and Hotel Rwanda. In spite of the knowledge of the events, the entire region hasn’t received the kind of support and help that it deserves. For most people in the developed world, the searing films that the genocides “inspired” seem to be the only witness of the events. Now comes Shake Hands With the Devil, which is based on a book by General Romeo Dallaire about how his request for more aide before the 1994 Rwandan genocide went unanswered by the United Nations. The film is being directed by Roger Spottiswoode (The 6th Day, Tomorrow Never Dies) and stars Roy Dupuis in the role of General Dallaire. The film actually premiered at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival but has just recently picked up a distributor. It is planning to be released in...
- 11/16/2009
- by Jacob
- Beyond Hollywood
- [Ioncinema.com is proud to feature the rookie and veteran filmmakers showcased and nurtured at the 2008 edition of the Sundance Film Festival. This is part of collection of emailer interviews conducted prior to the festival - we would like to thank the filmmakers for their time and the hardworking publicists for making this possible.] Patrick Reed When did you first hear of Dr. James Orbinski's story, and why did you want to make it into a documentary?I first met James in Rwanda in 2004. Peter Raymont and I were there making a film about the 1994 Rwandan genocide and General Romeo Dallaire's return for the 10th anniversary commemoration.Like Dallaire, James had been based in Rwanda during the genocide, as Head of Mission for Msf; and like Dallaire, the experience of witnessing genocide while the outside world turned a blind eye understandably haunted him.Unlike Dallaire, though, Rwanda was just one of many humanitarian catastrophes that James had personally experienced: Somalia during the 1992 civil war and famine; Afghanistan; refugee crises in Zaire; Kosovo; among others. I was curious to know why he kept going back, what compelled him, and how he was able to deal with the fall-out without be consumed by either rage or despair.
- 1/20/2008
- IONCINEMA.com
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