Hotel Rwanda Summary Genocide in Hotel Rwanda

Hotel Rwanda Summary

Genocide in Hotel Rwanda

Hotel Rwanda (2004) is a dramatic account of the obstacles Paul Rusesabagina, a Hutu hotelier, was forced to overcome to ensure the safety of not only his wife Tatiana, a Tutsi, and their children, but also of countless refugees of the Rwandan genocide of 1994. The film centers Rusesabagina's efforts to provide a safe haven at the Belgian-owned Hotel des Milles Collines in Kigali, Rwanda's capital, which is under constant threat of being overtaken by Interahamwe, the anti-Tutsi militia (Hotel Rwanda, 2004; Lovgren, 2004). Through the course of the film, it is made evident what factors contributed to the uprising and genocide in Rwanda that lasted from April 1994 until July 1994.

At the beginning of the film, which takes place before genocide breaks out, the Hotel des Milles Collines welcomes a BBC television camera crew who are in town to cover the recent peace agreement between the Hutus and the Tutsis. It is while Jack Daglish, played by Joaquin Phoenix, the BBC cameraman, is talking to a bar patron at the hotel that the audience is given insight into one of the factors that led to the conflict between the Hutus and Tutsis at this juncture (Hotel Rwanda, 2004). Daglish asks, "So, what is the actual difference between a Hutu and a Tutsi?" To which he is given the answer of "According to the Belgian colonists, the Tutsis are taller and more elegant. It was the Belgians that created the division… They picked people. . .those with thinner noses, lighter skin. They used to measure the width of people's noses. The Belgians used the Tutsis to run the country. Then, when they left, they left the power to the Hutus. And of course, the Hutus took revenge on the elite Tutsis for years of repression" (On "Hotel Rwanda" and Concerned Grandparents, 2010). This explanation thus establishes that the tension between the Hutus and Tutsis is not only political but also social. Furthermore, it is established that the conflict between the Hutus and Tutsis is rooted in a fundamental struggle for power. Based on this, it is clear that social discontent did not emerge overnight and that interference from foreign powers, including imperialism, contributed to the tense relationships between the feuding ethnic groups.

The catalyst for genocide occurs on April 6, 1994 when President Habyarimana, a Hutu, is assassinated when his plane is shot down following a peace agreement. In the film, Rusesabagina is shown finding out about this from his wife who heard it on the radio. As tensions run high at the hotel, Rusesabagina must cooperate with the UNAMIR (United Nations Assistance Mission For Rwanda) in their efforts to provide security for the hotel's European guests. It is not long before the UN (United Nations) is involuntarily pulled into the conflict when the Interahamwe attack and kill Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana before turning on the ten UN soldiers protecting her and killing them as well.