Hotel Rwanda


Hotel Rwanda is a 2004 biographical historical drama film co-written and directed by Terry George. It was adapted from a screenplay by George and Keir Pearson, and stars Don Cheadle and Sophie Okonedo as hotelier Paul Rusesabagina and his wife Tatiana. The film depicts Rusesabagina's efforts to save the lives of his family and more than 1,500 other refugees by providing them with shelter in the besieged Hôtel des Mille Collines during the Rwandan genocide, which occurred during the spring of 1994. Hotel Rwanda explores genocide, political corruption, and the repercussions of violence.
The film was a co-production between United Artists and Lions Gate Films, and was commercially distributed by United Artists theatrically and by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for home media. Hotel Rwanda premiered in theaters in limited release in the United States on 22 December 2004 and in wide release on 4 February 2005, grossing more than $23 million in domestic ticket sales. It earned an additional $10 million in business through international release to top out at a combined total of nearly $34 million in gross revenue.
The film was critically acclaimed and on many of the year's Top 10 lists. It was nominated for multiple awards, including Academy Award nominations for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Original Screenplay.

Plot

In April 1994, Rwanda is engulfed in a civil war between the Hutu-controlled government and Tutsi rebels. In Kigali, Paul Rusesabagina manages the Belgian-owned Hôtel des Mille Collines and lives with his Tutsi wife Tatiana. The Tutsi are framed as an infestation by Hutu extremist voices such as RTLM radio and Georges Rutaganda, the latter of whom supplies goods to the hotel. Paul curries favor with Rwandan Army general Augustin Bizimungu, who favors the Hutu. United Nations peacekeeping forces in the country oversee the implementation of the Arusha Accords between the Army and the Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front, amid concerns of persisting civil unrest. Tatiana's brother Thomas warns Paul that the situation will worsen, but Paul believes in the UN.
The next day, news spreads that the Hutu president was assassinated, and the Accords fail. Reprisal massacres erupt, and a Rwandan Army Captain threatens Paul and his neighbors; he barely negotiates their safety and brings them to the hotel. He finds his insolent receptionist, Gregoire, occupying the presidential suite and threatening to expose all the Tutsi refugees if he is made to work. Canadian Colonel Oliver's UN forces are prohibited from intervening in the conflict. Paul's boss and the owner of the hotel, who lives in Belgium, apologizes to him over the phone, saying there's nothing he can do to provide safe passage for him and his family. Foreign nationals are evacuated, but the Rwandans are left behind.
The hotel receives more evacuees from the overburdened UN refugee camp, the Red Cross, and various orphanages, totaling 800 Tutsi and Hutu. Tatiana desperately searches for her brother, sister-in-law, and two nieces. As the situation becomes more violent, Paul must divert the Hutu soldiers, care for the refugees, protect his family, and maintain the appearance of a functioning 4-star hotel. Paul forces Gregoire to work with the help of Bizimungu.
Low on supplies, Paul and Gregoire drive to collect hotel supplies from Rutaganda and witness the Interahamwe militia raping Tutsi hostages. Georges explains to Paul that the "rich cockroaches" money will become worthless since all of the Tutsis will be killed. They return to the hotel through the fog on the riverside road recommended by Georges, finding it is carpeted with dead bodies.
When the UN forces attempt to evacuate a group of refugees, including Paul's family, Gregoire betrays them to the Interahamwe, who use RTLM broadcasts to accost them. Paul gives Bizimungu the remaining valuables and Scotch from his office safe to protect the refugees, and admonishes Bizimungu for genocide apathy and promises to testify on his behalf for his help. Paul's family and the hotel refugees are finally able to leave the besieged hotel in a UN convoy, travelling through retreating refugees and militia masses to reach safety behind Tutsi rebel lines and are reunited with their nieces.
A textual epilogue reveals that Paul saved at least 1,200 Tutsi and Hutu refugees, adopted his nieces, and relocated to Belgium with his family; Thomas and his wife were never found; and Georges and Bizimungu were tried and sentenced for war crimes, with Georges receiving a life sentence.

Cast

In 1999, Paul Rusesabagina received a phone call from an American screenwriter named Keir Pearson. Pearson, along with his colleague Terry George, went on to write the script for Hotel Rwanda in consultation with Rusesabagina. Sharing his thoughts about the lack of international intervention during the crisis, director Terry George commented, "It's simple... African lives are not seen as valuable as the lives of Europeans or Americans."
Rusesabagina has since come under criticism from some survivors of the Genocide. In 2008, the book Hotel Rwanda, or, the Tutsi Genocide as seen by Hollywood by Alfred Ndahiro, who was a former advisor to Paul Kagame, and journalist Privat Rutazibwa, was published. The authors conducted interviews with 74 people who had stayed in the Hotel during the Genocide. Inside the Hotel Rwanda: The Surprising True Story … And Why it Matters Today, co-written by Hotel des Mille Collines Survivor Edouard Kayihura and American author Kerry Zukus, was published in 2011.
The books include allegations that during the Genocide, Rusesabagina extorted money from hotel guests for rooms and food. It was also reported that the UN headquarters in Kigali received information that Rusesabagina had provided a Rwandan army commander with a list of hotel guests and their room numbers. UN observers managed to change the room numbers of those most threatened. The character of the Canadian Colonel is based on Senator Roméo Dallaire, now retired Lieutenant-General from the Canadian Armed Forces. Dallaire was not pleased with the film's portrayal of the events that he witnessed, arguing he and his men did far more to help survivors. He recounted his own experiences in his biography, Shake Hands with the Devil. The book was later adapted into two feature films; a documentary, and a 2007 dramatic motion picture.
In response to critics, Odette Nyiramilimo, a prominent survivor who became a senator in the new government, pushed back against Paul Rusesabagina's suspected bad-faith intentions, saying: "I never saw him threaten to expel people from the hotel if they didn’t pay up — never."
George stated that it was important to craft the film for a mass-market audience, using the question of whether the film is "going to play in Peoria? Will it be understood? Is it mainstream enough?"

Filming

Principal filming was shot on location in Kigali, Rwanda, and Johannesburg, South Africa. The real Hôtel des Mille Collines was not used in the film. Instead, a vacant hospital in South Africa was the primary filming location. Paul Rusesabagina was consulted during the writing of the film. Although the character of Colonel Oliver played by Nolte is fictional in nature, the role was inspired by the UN force commander for UNAMIR, Roméo Dallaire. Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni, then-Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana, and Rwandan Patriotic Front leader Paul Kagame appear in archive television footage in the film.
The producers of the film partnered with the United Nations Foundation to create the International Fund for Rwanda, which supported United Nations Development Programme initiatives assisting Rwandan survivors. "The goal of the film is not only to engage audiences in this story of genocide but also to inspire them to help redress the terrible devastation," said George.

Soundtrack

The original motion picture soundtrack for Hotel Rwanda was released by the Commotion label on 11 January 2005. It features songs written by Wyclef Jean, Deborah Cox, and others. The music for the film was composed by Rupert Gregson-Williams, Andrea Guerra, and the Afro Celt Sound System, while being edited by Michael Connell.

Marketing

Novel

Hotelier Paul Rusesabagina's experience encouraged director George to produce the film. A paperback novel published by Newmarket Press, titled Hotel Rwanda: Bringing the True Story of an African Hero to Film, released on 7 February 2005, dramatizes the events of the Rwandan Genocide in 1994, as depicted in the film, and expands on the ideas of how Rusesabagina sheltered and saved more than 1,200 people in the hotel he managed in Kigali by summarizing three years of research, articles that chronicle the historical events, and the ensuing aftermath. A brief history and timeline, the making of the film, and the complete screenplay written by Keir Pearson and Terry George are covered in thorough detail.