Not Just an African Story

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Irish director Terry George (Some Mother's Son) may not have Steven Spielberg's skills, but he is a serious and persistent man. This comparatively low-budget film (roughly $16 million) was not an easy sell to the studios. In the end, the financing deal involved 12 signatories on three continents and 93 documents — and this was before a payroll car heading for the South African location was hijacked.

Rusesabagina has come to believe that African lives are not as valued in Europe and the U.S. as white lives, and that bitterness stings several sequences in the film. Still, says the erstwhile hotelier, "the hope I have is that people are receptive, that whoever sees this movie tells us, We are sorry we never knew this. I'm hoping that this will serve as a message so that what took place in Rwanda will not be repeated elsewhere."

Who knows if that large mission can be accomplished? Hotel Rwanda is, finally, only a movie. That said, however, it is a powerful portrait of a slightly befuddled man who, when inhuman demands were placed on him, found within himself an unexpected response. In ceremonies marking the 10th anniversary of the events, Rwandan President Paul Kagame offered to come to the aid of any country in which genocide was taking place. He has sent a small contingent to Darfur to help restore stability after clashes between the government and rebel forces. Courage, Winston Churchill once said, is the virtue that makes all other virtues possible. Hotel Rwanda reminds us of that with dramatic force and compelling poignancy.