Shooting Dogs, the most recent film to grapple with the Rwandan Genocide of 1994, had it's official world premiere at a football stadium in the national capital of Kigali tonight. The film, which was screened earlier this month at the Amnesty International Film Festival, chronicles the first six days of the genocide, focusing on the mostly true story of a Catholic priest (John Hurt) and an English teacher (Hugh Dancy) who are faced with the choice between remaining with the thousands of Tutsis about to be massacred or fleeing to safety.
Although in many respects a more stylish, authentic, tougher-minded film than "Hotel Rwanda," director Michael Caton-Jones' respectable and well-intentioned "Shooting Dogs" still falls into the trap of filtering an inherently African story through the eyes of a noble white protagonist -- in this case, two of them.
Shooting Dogs joins Hotel Rwanda and Sometimes in April in the dramatic, cinematic attempt to deal with the horrific 100 days during which an estimated million ethnic Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were slaughtered. While a creative endeavor such as this can be seen as a noble enterprise, a cynical soul can't help but anticipate the films on Darfur that await us, ten years up around the bend.
The film will go on general release in the UK beginning this Friday, and producers are still working to secure a U.S. distributor.
Rahodeb
Los Angeles, CA
March 2006
MAR 27, 2006 11:02 PM