Hotel Rwanda
When people ask me, good listeners, why do I hate all the Tutsi, I say, "Read our history." The Tutsi were collaborators for the Belgian colonists, they stole our Hutu land, they whipped us. Now they have come back, these Tutsi rebels. They are cockroaches. They are murderers. Rwanda is our Hutu land. We are the majority. They are a minority of traitors and invaders. We will squash the infestation. We will wipe out the RPF rebels. This is RTLM, Hutu power radio. Stay alert. Watch your neighbors.
~ Hakeem Kae-Kazim (as played by George Rutaganda), Hotel Rwanda
The 2004 film Hotel Rwanda is a historical drama about hotelier Paul Rusesabagina (played by Don Cheadle), during the Rwandan Genocide. In 1994, some of the worst atrocities in the history of mankind took place in the country of Rwanda, and in an era of the Internet and round the clock news, the events went largely unnoticed by the rest of the world. In only three months, the Hutu military and Interahamwe militia troops brutally murdered almost one million Rwandans.
This film is based on true events that took place during the genocidal violence that erupted in Rwanda between the Hutu and Tutsi groups. 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.
Directed by Northern Irish filmmaker Terry George, it was co-produced by US, British, Italian, and South African companies, and the first ever co-production between the rival independent film studios Lions Gate Films and United Artists. It was filmed mostly in South Africa, with some second unit filming in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.
Hotel Rwanda has been called an African Schindler's List. Both movies portray a man who uses his political position, social skills and quick wit to rescue thousands of lives from a genocide. Hotel Rwanda was nominated for three Oscars: Best Actor (Cheadle), Best Supporting Actress (Sophie Okonedo), and Best Original Screenplay.
Several journalists and historians confirm the film's accuracy in portraying the fundamental sequence of events at the Hotel des Mille Collines and surrounding Kigali.
The American Film Institute ranked Hotel Rwanda as #90 on its list of the 100 most inspirational movies of all time. Film critic Richard Roeper said that it was one of the most inspirational films that he had ever seen and named the film the best of 2004. Roger Ebert gave the film four-stars, and ranked Hotel Rwanda as the ninth best movie of 2004.
Note: The genocide in Rwanda ended in July 1994, when the Tutsi rebels drove the Hutu army and the Interhamwe militia across the border into the Congo. They left behind almost a million corpses. Hotelier Paul Rusesabagina emigrated to Belgium with family in 1996. In 2005 he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and he Receives Honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of Guelph (Ontario, Canada) in 2007.
For both my son and me, this film is about values, honor, and for standing up for those things in which you believe. It's easily within my personal list of The 25 Best Films of All Time.
~ Hakeem Kae-Kazim (as played by George Rutaganda), Hotel Rwanda
The 2004 film Hotel Rwanda is a historical drama about hotelier Paul Rusesabagina (played by Don Cheadle), during the Rwandan Genocide. In 1994, some of the worst atrocities in the history of mankind took place in the country of Rwanda, and in an era of the Internet and round the clock news, the events went largely unnoticed by the rest of the world. In only three months, the Hutu military and Interahamwe militia troops brutally murdered almost one million Rwandans.
This film is based on true events that took place during the genocidal violence that erupted in Rwanda between the Hutu and Tutsi groups. 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.
Directed by Northern Irish filmmaker Terry George, it was co-produced by US, British, Italian, and South African companies, and the first ever co-production between the rival independent film studios Lions Gate Films and United Artists. It was filmed mostly in South Africa, with some second unit filming in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.
Hotel Rwanda has been called an African Schindler's List. Both movies portray a man who uses his political position, social skills and quick wit to rescue thousands of lives from a genocide. Hotel Rwanda was nominated for three Oscars: Best Actor (Cheadle), Best Supporting Actress (Sophie Okonedo), and Best Original Screenplay.
Several journalists and historians confirm the film's accuracy in portraying the fundamental sequence of events at the Hotel des Mille Collines and surrounding Kigali.
The American Film Institute ranked Hotel Rwanda as #90 on its list of the 100 most inspirational movies of all time. Film critic Richard Roeper said that it was one of the most inspirational films that he had ever seen and named the film the best of 2004. Roger Ebert gave the film four-stars, and ranked Hotel Rwanda as the ninth best movie of 2004.
Note: The genocide in Rwanda ended in July 1994, when the Tutsi rebels drove the Hutu army and the Interhamwe militia across the border into the Congo. They left behind almost a million corpses. Hotelier Paul Rusesabagina emigrated to Belgium with family in 1996. In 2005 he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and he Receives Honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of Guelph (Ontario, Canada) in 2007.
For both my son and me, this film is about values, honor, and for standing up for those things in which you believe. It's easily within my personal list of The 25 Best Films of All Time.
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~Edmund Burke
.... agreed.
seriously, i did!