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Hotel Rwanda - Don Cheadle, Nick Nolte, Joaquin Phoenix, Terry George

Threat advisory: High - High risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

When the world closed its eyes, he opened his arms.

Based on true events that emerged from the atrocity of the Rwandan civil war, director Terry George's masterful Hotel Rwanda introduces us to Paul Ruseabagina (Don Cheadle), the then-manager of the posh Hotel Milles Collines. In 1994, Hutu extremists held the nation by the throat and focused their hatred on the Tutsi people. Almost overnight, menace turned to violence and caught thousands unaware. Barricaded in the hotel with those he is trying to protect, Ruseabagina becomes a reluctant hero. When pleas for help to the European hotel owner and even President Clinton are met with silence, Ruseabagina is left to keep the hundreds of Tutsis who have taken sanctuary in his hotel safe for just another day, another hour. For one hundred days, until rescued by the United Nations, he held the line against terror.

Terry George recreates these days of tragedy and triumph with the most sensitive touch, recognising the desperate claustrophobia of the ever-present threat of brutality. Don Cheadle, in one of the finest performances of his distinguished career, captures every fibre and sinew of his remarkable, complex man.

Theatrical propaganda posters

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

Film true drama Africa Rwanda hotel manager Hutu Tutsi civil war

Persons of interest

Don Cheadle .... Paul Ruseabagina
Sophie Okonedo .... Tatiana Ruseabagina
Nick Nolte .... Colonel Oliver
Joaquin Phoenix .... Jack
Desmond Dube .... Dube
David O'Hara .... David
Cara Seymour .... Pat Archer
Fana Mokoena .... General Augustin Bizimungo
Hakeem Kae-Kazim .... George
Tony Kgoroge .... Gregoire
Mosa Kaiser .... Paul's Daughter
Roberto Citran .... Priest
Leleti Khumalo .... Fedens
Harriet Lenabe .... Alice
Antonio David Lyons .... Thomas
Mothusi Magano .... Benedict
Keir Pearson .... Screenwriter
Terry George .... Screenwriter
Terry George .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

Hotel Rwanda official movie site
Hotel Rwanda film production notes
Hotel Rwanda QuickTime movie trailers
Awards and film festivals:

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS - Oscars) 2005: Nominated: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Don Cheadle), Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Sophie Okonedo), Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (Keir Pearson, Terry George)
Bangkok International Film Festival 2005: Windows on the World
British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) 2005: Nominated: Original screenplay (Keir Pearson, Terry George)
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 2005: Nominated: Best Actor (Don Cheadle), Best Picture
Cinematic Intelligence Agency Trenchcoat Awards 2005: Won: Best crime-fighter (Paul Ruseabagina - Don Cheadle), Best biography, documentary or true drama; Nominated: Best actor - Male (Don Cheadle as Paul Ruseabagina), Best war (The Rwandan civil war)
European Film Awards 2005: Nominated: European Composer (Rupert Gregson-Williams, Andrea Guerra)
Hollywood Foreign Press Association (Golden Globes) 2005: Nominated: Best Motion Picture - Drama, Best Original Song - Motion Picture (Million voices), Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama (Don Cheadle)
International Press Academy Golden Satellite Awards 2005: Won: Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama (Don Cheadle), Best Motion Picture, Drama), Best Original Song (Wyclef Jean, Jerry "Wonder" Duplessis, Andrea Guerra - Million voices); Nominated: Best Screenplay, Original (Keir Pearson, Terry George)
Image Awards 2005: Nominated: Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture (Don Cheadle) , Outstanding Motion Picture, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture (Sophie Okonedo)
Hollywood Foreign Press Association (Golden Globes) 2005: Nominated: Best Motion Picture - Drama, Best Original Song - Motion Picture (A million voices - Wyclef Jean, Jerry "Wonder" Duplessis, Andrea Guerra), Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama (Don Cheadle)
Online Film Critics Society Awards 2005: Nominated: Best Actor (Don Cheadle)
PGA Golden Laurel Awards 2005: Won: Stanley Kramer Award
Screen Actors Guild Awards 2005: Nominated: Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture (Don Cheadle, Nick Nolte, Sophie Okonedo, Joaquin Phoenix), Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role (Sophie Okonedo), Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role (Don Cheadle)
Toronto International Film Festival 2004: Won: People's Choice Award (Terry George)
Writers Guild of America, USA 2005: Nominated: Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (Keir Pearson, Terry George)

See also Blood diamond, Tears of the sun, The last king of Scotland
Studios and distributors:

Lions Gate Films * United Artists * 20th Century Fox

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

Look, I just don't get racial violence. I don't get colonialism. I don't get genocide. I don't get rape. I don't get tribal revenge. In that respect, I don't get Hotel Rwanda, either. We relaxed and comfortable Westerners have neither understanding nor appreciation of civil war. All our wars are fought against bad people in other countries. What to do? Give up? Take up arms? Passive resistance?

Sometimes all you can do is keep your head down and crawl.

Pride is for the dead.

Paul Ruseabagina lived. His family lived. More than a thousand innocent people lived because of him. This dude is a legend. Don Cheadle brings all the humility of a small man trying to live his life and improve the lives of his family. He brings the love, the panic, the heartbreak, the humanity, the overwhelming sense of responsibility to the big screen. He is Good™.

See this film.