Hotel Rwanda (2004)

Paul Rusesabagina was a hotel manager who housed over a thousand Tutsi refugees during their struggle against the Hutu militia in Rwanda.

Director:

Terry George

Writers:

Keir Pearson, Terry George

Stars:

Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Joaquin Phoenix

Top Rated Movies #199 | Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 16 wins & 45 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Don Cheadle	...	Paul Rusesabagina
Xolani Mali	...	Policeman
Desmond Dube	...	Dube
Hakeem Kae-Kazim	...	George Rutaganda
Tony Kgoroge	...	Gregoire
Rosie Motene	...	Receptionist
Neil McCarthy	...	Jean Jacques
Mabutho 'Kid' Sithole	...	Head Chef (as Kid Sithole)
Nick Nolte	...	Colonel Oliver
Fana Mokoena	...	General Bizimungu
Jeremiah Ndlovu	...	Old Guard
Sophie Okonedo	...	Tatiana Rusesabagina
Lebo Mashile	...	Odette
Antonio David Lyons	...	Thomas Mirama
Leleti Khumalo	...	Fedens

Storyline

1994. In Rwanda, the classification of the native population into Hutus and Tutsis, arbitrarily done by the colonial Belgians, is now ingrained within Rwandan mentality despite the Rwandan independence. Despite the Belgians having placed the Tutsis in a higher position during the Belgian rule, they have placed the majority Hutus in power after independence. Paul Rusesabagina, a Hutu married to a Tutsi, Tatiana Rusesabagina, is the House Manager of the Hotel Des Milles Collines in Kigali. The Milles Collines, owned by Sabena (the national airline of Belgium), is a four-star hotel catering primarily to wealthy white westerners. Paul, who knows how to work the system to run the hotel effectively for its guests and for Sabena, is proud that most of the Caucasians who he meets in this professional capacity treat him with respect. After a specific incident, the relative calm between the Tutsi guerrillas and government-backed Hutu militia takes a turn. Paul's thought that the native ...

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Plot Keywords:

rwanda | ethnic warfare | mass murder | hate monger | hotel | 

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Taglines:

When a country descended into madness and the world turned its back, one man had to make a choice

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 on appeal for violence, disturbing images and brief strong language

Details

Official Sites:

Metropolitan Filmexport [France] MGM/United Artists [United States]

Country:

UK South Africa Italy

Language:

English French

Release Date:

4 February 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hotel Ruanda

Filming Locations:

Rwanda

Box Office

Budget:

$17,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£381,601 (United Kingdom), 4 March 2005, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$100,091, 26 December 2004, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$23,530,892

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$36,532,987

Company Credits

Production Co:

United Artists, Lions Gate Films, Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

It was later revealed by one of the survivors of the hotel, Pasa Mwenenganucye, that Paul Rusesabagina, was not as heroic as he was depicted to be. The people who sought shelter at his hotel were made to pay for their stay, with priorities given to the wealthier people. The backlash was so bad, that Rusesabagina was pressured into cancelling an appearance at a Canadian festival by members of Toronto's Rwandan community, who accused him of being "genocide revisionist and denier." The head of the UN's peacekeeping force in Rwanda at the time, Canadian Romeo Dallaire, addressed the controversy by simply calling the movie "okay". Despite all the allegations, Paul Rusesabagina has stood by the movie and denied all claims of any wrongdoing on his part.

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Goofs

When Paul Rusesabagina is brought to the Hotel Diplomat (about 25-minutes into the film) to take the keys out of the safe, he also takes a stack of $100 USD bills with a post-1996 design.

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Quotes

[first lines]
George Rutaganda: [voiceover] When people ask me, good listeners, why do I hate all the Tutsi, I say, "Read our history." The Tutsi were collaborators for the Belgian colonists, they stole our Hutu land, they whipped us. Now they have come back, these Tutsi rebels. They are cockroaches. They are murderers. Rwanda is our Hutu land. We are the majority. They are a minority of traitors and invaders. We will squash the infestation. We will wipe out the RPF rebels. This is RTLM, Hutu power radio. Stay ...

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Crazy Credits

The producers wish to thank the people of Alexandra and Thembisa, Johannesburg, S.A.

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Connections

Referenced in Brows Held High: Yeelen (2013)

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Soundtracks

Olugendo Lw'e Bulaya
Written by Bernard Kabanda
Published by Real World Works Ltd.
Produced and Recorded binaurally by Tchad Blake at Real World Studios
(p) 1999 Real World Records Ltd.
from the Womad Select album 'Olugendo' WSCD 106

User Reviews

A fantastic and powerful film

I was fortunate to see this film at the Toronto Film Festival. I had heard nothing about this film before I read up on it in the Fest guide and originally was going to see something else. But, the subway happened to shut down and I was not going to be able to see the film I originally intended. So, I decided to give this a try.

And I am so very glad I did.

This film is by far the best drama I have seen all year, and indeed was the best film of the 11 I saw at the festival. It is gripping, heart-wrenching, and opens your eyes to so many things. Don Cheadle -- who I am a long time admirer of his work -- is phenomenal in the lead role, and I hope that he is nominated for Best Actor this year, because he certainly deserves it.

I am recommending this film to everybody I know and I hope that it gets a wide distribution because it certainly is a film that needs to be seen. While comparisons can be made to Schindler's List, I think that this film goes further to show that events like the Holocaust can happen any time -- even now -- so long as people look away, just as the UN did in Rwanda. It certainly makes one think about how easy it is for us to forget our history and allow it to be repeated, because (as one character says) we will watch it on TV, say that it is terrible, and go right on eating our dinner. 10/10