Hotel Rwanda
 

http://i.imdb.com/mptv1.gif

I saw a special presentation of this moving starring Don Cheadle last night and it was phenomenal! Don Cheadle did a wonderful job and there is already Oscar buzz surrounding the film.

Ten years ago, some of the worst atrocities in the history of mankind took place in the country of Rwanda - and in an era of high-speed communication and round-the-clock news, the events went almost unnoticed by the rest of the world. In only three months, almost 1 million people were brutally murdered. In the face of these unspeakable actions, inspired by his love for his family, an ordinary man summons extraordinary courage to save the lives of over a thousand helpless refugees by granting them shelter in the hotel he manages. Harrowing and deeply moving, Hotel Rwanda is his story.


I encourage EVERYONE to see this movie. It'll be in select theatres December 22nd and I believe it'll be released nationwide in January 2005.
Movie website

Re: Hotel Rwanda
 

I'd really like to see this. It won't make the biggest dent in box office sales, but I'm happy that these smaller movies are gaining larger audiences.

This whole atrocity is an incredible shame for everyone in this world.

-Rudey

Rwanda Tells U.N. It Put Troops on Congo Border


By Irwin Arieff

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Rwanda, appearing before the U.N. Security Council, denied again on Wednesday that it had sent soldiers into neighboring Congo in pursuit of Hutu rebels but acknowledged it had massed troops along the border.

Rwanda's U.N. ambassador, Stanislas Kamanzi, also said his government was losing patience with international promises to help disarm the rebels -- some of whom took part in Rwanda's 1994 genocide -- and send them home to be re-integrated into civilian life.

Rwanda had been pressing the international community for 10 years to "rapidly and decisively" address the problem of the rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (news - web sites), so far without success, Kamanzi told a council meeting on central Africa.

As long as they were able to continue using Congo as a staging area for attacks on Rwanda, the rebels would remain "a source of instability in the region," he said, blaming a lack of political will for the international failure to act.

Kigali has repeatedly threatened to send soldiers across the border to carry out surgical strikes against the rebels, and the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo said on Wednesday it was "almost certain" Rwanda was involved in attacks on rebels.

"There is an investigation into reports that human rights violations took place during these attacks," mission spokeswoman Patricia Tome said in the capital Kinshasa.

But Kamanzi said, "allegations of the presence of Rwandan troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo are false."

However he added that Rwandan troops were deployed along the border to fend off rebel attacks.

Reports that Rwanda had again sent troops into eastern Congo have raised fears of renewed war in a region where 4 million people have died from genocide and war-related hunger and disease in the past decade.

Rwanda has already invaded Congo twice in the past decade.

The Security Council, in an apparent reference to Rwandan President Paul Kagame, said on Tuesday it would consider unspecified measures against individuals who undermined the peace process in Congo and demanded that Rwanda quickly withdraw any troops it may have on Congolese soil.

Article

If Rwanda was the US they'd just invade D.R. Congo and occupy it so they can get the job done.

I'm going to go see it.

I can't wait till this movie comes out. I saw a clip on the Oprah show, and it looks amazing.


Too bad that in 10 years, we'll be making a movie about Sudan.

Let us know what you think when you see it!

Re: Re: Hotel Rwanda
 

If your interested.... another movie dealing with Rwanda is "Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Romeo Dallaire" (2004)
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0424435/
-or-
"The Last Just Man"(2002)
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0355680/

Both based on the book:
Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda by Roméo A. Dallaire (the general in charge of the UN mission to Rwanda whose pleas were ignored).

Both are indepdent films and haven't gotten much play... but I think the 2004 movie will at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival - in the World Cinema Documentary Competition...

Re: Re: Re: Hotel Rwanda
 

I don't know why but the name sounds familiar...I may have heard about the book or someone may have talked about it before. I will add it to my netflix queue if it's available.

-Rudey

YAY
 

Both Don Cheadle and Hotel Rwanda were nominated for Golden Globes!!

I really want to see this. Is it out everywhere yet?

Its in select theatres Dec. 22nd. So check your local listings.

I'm going to see it. Everyone should.

You Must See This Movie
 

I just saw this movie, and I feel somewhat changed as a human being. It was that good. I'm not really going to discuss this movie's details because I don't want to ruin it for anyone. It did remind me of Schindler's List in a few ways, including the way that it showed how the worst in humanity can bring out the best in it.

I feel a little bit angry at all of the silence that came from so many nations (US included) that could have done something. Silence. There was so much of it. Most people who protest wars, didn't protest this. Bill Clinton was an amoral coward who was more concerned with his political future. He was silent on the six words that could have saved the lives of hundereds of thousands of innocent people, "there is a genocide in Rwanda." He should have been investigated for this, but there were assholes on the other side of the aisle who were more concerned that he got a blowjob. They were more than happy to turn America's attention to Monica Lewinsky. When it came to Rwanda, something that happened while the Democrats controlled the Whitehouse and Congress, Republicans were silent because they were putting a ridiculous scandal in the news.

The French, as the movie points out, were more than happy to make money off of arms being sold to Hutu rebels. The movie also shows how the French were able to influence the actions of the rebels, but preferred to remain silent. The Belgians were silent. The English were silent, and so on.

Worst of all, I was silent. As were most of us.

I'm now determined to say something about Somalia. Even if no one listens to me, I will have tried. If enough people, who alone are insignificant, say something, people in power will be compelled to do something. Wheels are in motion to do something in Somalia, but stopping the horrors there are not yet a done deal.

It was and as a depressing momen of the modern world... the Canadian general that tried to warn people still suffers from extreme PTSD... he was part of my support group back in Ottawa.

I still have yet to get myself ready for the film, because I know too well what it will cover....

I guess that when these events took place, that general was a colonel. Anyway, Nick Nolte did a great job of portraying a professional, human, humane, and overwhelmed officer. My hat is off to Canada for sticking it out when other nations removed their peacekeeping troops. I also have the highest regard for the Candians who served there. I would not have performed as well under those conditions.

Nope he was a general back then too... he's retired now...

Basically he fell apart after what he saw, and couldn't stop; in the end he was found dead drunk with a pistol to his head along the Rideau Canal in Ottawa (think the Mall in DC) and had to be talked out of sucide...

I can't off the top of my head think of any of the troops that served there that don't have some type of emotional or stress disorder...

My unit was put on emergency stand-by to fly in; but Canada lacked (as still does) the rapid transport capability to move troops into a hostile enviroment... so without UN (and in our case US) support for an emergency intervention we sat there because we couldn't deploy... perhaps the lowest I ever felt was then, because we could get the radio sit-reps, and we knew how desperate the situation was.:(

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/image...ndaget_203.jpg


Almost 10,000 people packed the main stadium in the Rwandan capital Kigali on Monday for the country's premiere of Oscar-nominated film Hotel Rwanda.

The movie tells the true story of hotel owner Paul Rusesabagina's attempts to shelter refugees and rally global help during the 1994 genocide.

Mr Rusesabagina, played by Don Cheadle, missed the screening due to illness.

Survivor Anne, 46, who took shelter in the hotel, saw the film and said: "They portrayed human nature well."

Paul Rusesabagina (left) with actor Don Cheadle
Hotelier Paul Rusesabagina (left) was played by actor Don Cheadle
She added: "I was there. It reminds me of my family, I stayed there for a month, separated from my husband and children."

Hotel Rwanda has received worldwide acclaim, culminating in three Oscar nominations in January, including one for Cheadle for best actor.

Boos erupted during a scene when machetes were dumped on the ground, with cheering when Hutu extremists were killed by the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front.

The screening at the Amahoro stadium came three days before the country marks the 11th anniversary of the start of the genocide, in which about 800,000 people were killed.

Hotel Rwanda screening in Kigali stadium
The city's stadium is playing host to a string of new genocide movies
Mr Rusesabagina's absence was officially blamed on illness, but there was speculation he stayed away because he recently claimed genocide was still going on.

Belfast-born director Terry George was there. He said: "It was really important to come back here and show the movie to people in Kigali to let them see that the world is starting to get a message of what took place in 1994.

"We are trying to see how we can use the emotion generated by the film to help the people of Rwanda, most especially the survivors."

In January, the same stadium hosted a premiere of another genocide film, Sometimes in April, while yet another, Shooting Dogs, will be shown there later this year.

Article

I just saw this film. I am at an absolute loss for words. It was one of the most thought-provoking and moving films I have ever seen. For anyone who has yet to see this film, please do so.

If it made you think, consider helping out on Darfur.

Everyone in this thread should consider it.

-Rudey

I saw it on video last night. It was really well-done. The "extra" stuff on the DVD is worth watching too - there's more information and an interview with the real-life "Paul" who now lives in Belgium.