A few weeks ago Sarah and I went to see Hotel Rwanda and I have to say that it was one of the most moving and overwhelming films I have ever seen.
Hotel Rwanda is the true story of Paul Rusesabagina, the manager of the 4-star Belgian resort Hotel des Mille Collines in Kigali. Rusesabagina managed to save a small enclave of 1,268 men, women and children of both Hutu and Tutsi heritage by manipulating everyone from politicians to military leaders.
Perhaps the reason I was so moved by the film was that rather than trying to tell the larger and horrifying story of the 3 month long genocide of 1994, Hotel Rwanda focuses on Rusesabagina and his attempts to save his family from what looks like a sure death. The scene when Don Cheadle as Rusesabagina begs his wife to promise him that when they are seized, that she will shoot their two children to save them the fate of death by machete is as gripping and as terrifying as any moment in film.
If you want to learn more about the Rwandan genocide and how America (and the west) stood quietly by while 800,000 humans were slaughtered in 100 days, PBS’s Frontline has a companion site to their “Ghosts Rwanda” program.