Film metadata:<\/p>\n
Hotel Rwanda, 2004<\/p>\n
Producers: Terry George, A. Kitman Ho, Bridget Pickering, Sam Bhembe<\/p>\n
This film was accessed through Amazon’s “Prime Video” and is fictionalized yet based on the real-life accounts of the survivors of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide and of Paul Rusesabagina himself.<\/p>\n
Themes:<\/p>\n
The two main themes of the film could be understood as the futility of apoliticism and the significance of community ties through perilous situations. The film positions Paul Rusesabagina as a reluctant hero whose apoliticism could no longer withstand the heinous acts committed around him. \u00a0Hesitantly, he provides shelter to Tutsis who would otherwise be hunted in the streets of Rwanda. However, he does not do so without the pressure from his wife, who is Tutsi. Rusesabagina holds onto his apoliticism with pride at the start of the film, even refusing his wife’s request to call in a favor to save their neighbor, Victor. He claimed that he curries favor only to protect his family. Unfortunately, the film’s inaccuracies rest with the protagonist himself. While the film shows Rusesabagina as a hero, there have been multiple accounts that resent this portrayal due to its alleged dishonesty. Ultimately, it appears that the filmmakers did not prioritize the perspective of those who challenged the story they wanted to tell.<\/p>\n
Key Moments:<\/p>\n
17:00-22:00<\/p>\n
Paul Rusesabagina is traveling home as he witnesses the turmoil around him. Tutsis are being hunted, and their homes are being destroyed as the militia drives through the streets. When he arrives, his home is shrouded in darkness. In one of the final rooms he searches, Rusesabagina finds his wife and children with several of the families from their neighborhood. Initially, Rusesabagina criticizes his wife for bringing the families to their home and questions why they seek sanctuary there. Immediately after, Rusesabagina’s son, Roger, leaves the home in search of his friend. Rusesabagina finds his son hiding in a bush covered in blood that is not his own. The neighboring families question whose blood it is, and a distressed Rusesabagina begs for space for his family. This scene highlighted how apoliticism won’t save anyone, and an atrocity such as ethnic cleansing spares no one.<\/p>\n
58:39-1:03:09<\/p>\n
Paul Rusesabagina and his family are woken up by members of the Interahamwe militia. Rusesabagina is ordered to gather all of the hotel’s inhabitants and bring them outside. Rusesabagina buys himself time by offering the militia amenities while he carries out their request. However, Rusesabagina takes the chance to call in a favor with the general, the same man from whom he had bought beer earlier and who had accidentally revealed his shipment of machetes. The general is unavailable, though, and Rusabagina opts to call the hotel owner, Mr. Tillens, to express his thanks and say goodbye. Mr. Tillens tells Rusesabagina to stall while he calls in favors to intervene in the massacre that is about to happen. This scene portrays Rusesabagina as a hero who tries his best to protect others. Yet this representation contradicts some accounts that portray Rusesabagina as uninterested in protecting the Tutsi refugees.<\/p>\n
Teaching and Learning:<\/p>\n
I don’t think I would use Hotel Rwanda as the\u00a0sole\u00a0<\/em>resource in the context of history education. Although it introduces a variety of perspectives of those who survived the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, it leaves much nuance to be desired as far as the portrayal of Paul Rusesabagina is concerned. I think this film would be a valuable resource for a lesson on historical accuracy and understanding of genocide. It would use quotes from people who were present during this period to encourage learners to interrogate portrayals of historical atrocities and question the filmmakers’ motives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Film metadata: Hotel Rwanda, 2004 Producers: Terry George, A. Kitman Ho, Bridget Pickering, Sam Bhembe This film was accessed through Amazon’s “Prime Video” and is fictionalized yet based on the real-life accounts of the survivors of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide and of Paul Rusesabagina himself. Themes: The two main themes of the film could be…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chancejimenez.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chancejimenez.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chancejimenez.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chancejimenez.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chancejimenez.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chancejimenez.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":176,"href":"https:\/\/chancejimenez.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175\/revisions\/176"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chancejimenez.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chancejimenez.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chancejimenez.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chancejimenez.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}