The Rwandan Genocide on Film

The Rwandan genocide was one of the most shameful events of the 20th century. Many Westerners’ understanding of it is based upon the Oscar-winning film Hotel Rwanda and the critically acclaimed Shooting Dogs. Yet how accurately do these films depict events in Rwanda in 1994?
Drawing on new scholarship, this collection of essays explores a variety of feature films and documentaries about the genocide to understand its expression in both Western and Rwandan cinema. Interviews with filmmakers are featured, including journalist Steve Bradshaw (BBC’s Panorama), director Nick Hughes (100 Days), director Lee Isaac Chung (Munyurangabo) and Rwandan filmmakers Eric Kabera and Kivu Ruhorahoza.

Matthew Edwards is a primary school teacher and freelance writer from Cirencester, England. He is the author or editor of numerous books on world cinema.

Edited by Matthew Edwards
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 272
Bibliographic Info: 26 photos, filmography, notes, bibliographies, index
Copyright Date: 2018
pISBN: 978-1-4766-7072-0
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3156-1
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments v
Introduction by Matthew Edwards 1
Part I: Essays
Screening the Rwandan Genocide: Hotel Rwanda in Partial
Comparison with Sometimes in April (Mohamed Adhikari) 9
Ignoring Genocide: Hotel Rwanda (John McDonnell) 42
Shaming the West: The Other Side of the Rwandan Genocide
in Film (Tatiana Prorokova) 62
From Invisibility to Recognition: Archive and Cultural Memory
of the Rwandan Genocide (Lior Zylberman) 80
The Films of Eric Kabera, The Kwetu Film Institute and
Hillywood (Dianne R. Portfleet) 100
Reconciliation in ­Post-Genocide Rwanda as Presented in the
Film As We Forgive (Philip A. Cantrell) II 109
Let Us Speak of Rwanda (and Argentina and France)
(Fernando Gabriel Pagnoni Berns and Juan Ignacio Juvé) 119
Part II: Interviews
The Panorama Trilogy: An Interview with Investigative
Journalist Steve Bradshaw (Matthew Edwards) 136
100 Days: An Interview with Director Nick Hughes (Matthew Edwards) 148
Interview with Film Producer Eric Kabera (Madelaine Hron) 167
Munyurangabo: An Interview with Director Lee Isaac Chung (
Matthew Edwards) 171
As We Forgive: An Interview with Laura Waters Hinson (Matthew Edwards) 182
Grey Matter: An Interview with Director Kivu Ruhorahoza (Matthias De Groof) 190
Justice Seekers and The Arrows of Truth: An Interview with Antonio Ribeiro (Samantha Ashenden, James Brown and Philip Spencer) 200
Sweet Dreams: An Interview with Lisa Fruchtman (Matthew Edwards) 223
Filmography 233
About the Contributors 259
Index 261