Film Report
Hotel Rwanda was released in 2004 starring Don Cheadle, Sophia Okonedo and Joaquin Phoenix. Nominated for 32 awards and winning 15 this movie was amazing. It was also nominated for 3 Oscar awards.
In the small country of Rwanda the Hutu and the Tutsi lived. There was big tension between these two tribes and the Hutu’s believe that they should rule. This leads to the civil war of the Hutu and the Tutsi. Paul Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle) is the manager at the Sabena Hôtel des Mille Collines. He is a Hutu. His wife Tatiana (Sophie Okonedo) though, is Tutsi. This becomes an issue when the Hutu people or the anti-Tutsi militia raid Rwanda of all Tutsi. They are ordered to kill them all. Rusesabagina family is also in trouble when they find out that a friendly supplier to the hotel, George Rutaganda, is part of the anti-Tutsi militia. Paul and his family are seeing there neighbors being dragged on the streets and killed. Tutsi bodies are all over the place and Rwanda is a mess. Paul keeps his family and some family friends safe in his hotel and he keeps the Militia away by giving them money, food, liquor and more. Refugees, orphans, foreign nationals and Hutu on the street are swarming into the hotel and Paul is overwhelmed. The Tutsi soon realize all of the Hutu hidden away in the hotel and they surround the gates of the hotel. The hotel members try to escape many times with the UN peacekeeping forces but the Tutsi are too strong with their deadly machetes and guns and the UN peacekeeping forces cannot shoot because they are not allowed. The Tutsi are very violent and brutal. They finally get the foreign nationals out but the citizens of Rwanda must stay. They try to get families out of the hotel like Paul’s family but the Tutsi invade the vans and they retreat back. Paul then threatens the Army general of Rwanda to help them against the Tutsi. Families then sneak out and try to get out of Tutsi rebel lines. Paul’s family and other families end up at a refugee camp and they then take a bus out of the country. They end up moving to Belgium after escaping the Tutsi forces.
This movie was located in Eastern Africa, in a country called Rwanda. It’s actually a wealthy looking country. They have hotels, cars, and nice houses. It didn’t look to bad. It looked very dry though and desert like though. Rwanda during the movie looked like a developing country. I believe it was a formal region as well. There were poor people on the streets but it had nice neighborhoods and such.
I would relate this movie to Key Issue 1 Chapter 7: Where are Ethnicities Distributed? Because the two groups, Hutu and Tutsi live in the same place but one has to be more powerful. Why did they the Hutu feel they should be
