KIGALI: Just 72 hours before Rwandans commemorate the 11th anniversary of the 1994 genocide, thousands attended the premiere here of the Oscar-nominated film ?Hotel Rwanda,? a poignant account of one man?s attempt to stop the slaughter.
With horrific memories of the 100 days of killing between April and July 1994 about to be rekindled with Thursday?s anniversary, nearly 10,000 Rwandans packed Kigali?s main Amahoro stadium for the late Monday screening.
After waiting patiently for an hour in the stands and on the pitch, used by Hutu extremists as a killing field during the massacre of some 800,000 people, mainly ethnic minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus, the crowd bristled with anticipation as the lights dimmed.
Nervous laughter filled the cool night air as the film began to roll with a voice of a radio announcer inciting Rwandans to kill their fellow citizens: ?When I?m asked why I hate the Tutsis ...? the presenter intones.
?Hotel Rwanda? is based on the true story of Paul Rusesabagina, a former innkeeper whose Hotel de Mille Collines provided a safe haven for more than 1,200 people fleeing militiamen at the height of the genocide.
?This reminds me of many things,? said Anne, a 46-year-old genocide survivor and one of those who found safety in the hotel Rusesabagina used to manage.
?I was there,? she whispered, her eyes red from sobbing. ?It reminds me of my family, I stayed there for a month, separated from my husband and children.?
?They portrayed human nature well,? she said of the film after the credits disappeared from the giant screen. ?There were people who wanted to kill others and then there were those who didn?t want to and they really showed that well.?
Despite the movie?s tragic plot, the audience reacted with gusto to certain scenes, as was the case in January when another genocide-based film, ?Sometimes in April,? was shown at the same venue.
Loud boos erupted at a scene in which cases of machetes, all too often the weapons of choice for the killers, were dumped onto the ground. Cheers met the slaughter of Hutu extremists by the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front which brought an end to the killing.
?Hotel Rwanda,? which was screened for VIPs including Rwandan President Paul Kagame, in Kigali on Sunday before its mass premiere, was compared by many to ?Sometimes in April,? Haitian director Raul Peck?s genocide film that was shot in the country.
?I relate more to this film than Raul?s,? said Jean-Pierre, another survivor of the 1994 killing spree in Monday night?s crowd, opining that Peck had spent too much time focusing on politics rather than human beings.
??Hotel Rwanda? recounts only the genocide,? he said. ?Sometimes in April shows the genocide as a point in Rwanda?s history but it focuses more on the role of the international community than the suffering of Rwandans.??AFP
With horrific memories of the 100 days of killing between April and July 1994 about to be rekindled with Thursday?s anniversary, nearly 10,000 Rwandans packed Kigali?s main Amahoro stadium for the late Monday screening.
After waiting patiently for an hour in the stands and on the pitch, used by Hutu extremists as a killing field during the massacre of some 800,000 people, mainly ethnic minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus, the crowd bristled with anticipation as the lights dimmed.
Nervous laughter filled the cool night air as the film began to roll with a voice of a radio announcer inciting Rwandans to kill their fellow citizens: ?When I?m asked why I hate the Tutsis ...? the presenter intones.
?Hotel Rwanda? is based on the true story of Paul Rusesabagina, a former innkeeper whose Hotel de Mille Collines provided a safe haven for more than 1,200 people fleeing militiamen at the height of the genocide.
?This reminds me of many things,? said Anne, a 46-year-old genocide survivor and one of those who found safety in the hotel Rusesabagina used to manage.
?I was there,? she whispered, her eyes red from sobbing. ?It reminds me of my family, I stayed there for a month, separated from my husband and children.?
?They portrayed human nature well,? she said of the film after the credits disappeared from the giant screen. ?There were people who wanted to kill others and then there were those who didn?t want to and they really showed that well.?
Despite the movie?s tragic plot, the audience reacted with gusto to certain scenes, as was the case in January when another genocide-based film, ?Sometimes in April,? was shown at the same venue.
Loud boos erupted at a scene in which cases of machetes, all too often the weapons of choice for the killers, were dumped onto the ground. Cheers met the slaughter of Hutu extremists by the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front which brought an end to the killing.
?Hotel Rwanda,? which was screened for VIPs including Rwandan President Paul Kagame, in Kigali on Sunday before its mass premiere, was compared by many to ?Sometimes in April,? Haitian director Raul Peck?s genocide film that was shot in the country.
?I relate more to this film than Raul?s,? said Jean-Pierre, another survivor of the 1994 killing spree in Monday night?s crowd, opining that Peck had spent too much time focusing on politics rather than human beings.
??Hotel Rwanda? recounts only the genocide,? he said. ?Sometimes in April shows the genocide as a point in Rwanda?s history but it focuses more on the role of the international community than the suffering of Rwandans.??AFP
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