The new film stars acclaimed Quebec actor Roy Dupuis
and was shot in and around Kigali
with the participation of Rwandan actors.
RWANDA SHAKE HANDS SOON
"The Rwandans were incredibly hospitable.
They made available all the props we needed to stage a war --
tanks, machine guns, armed personnel carriers.
They let us work, and never asked us to see the script."
To Orwell Today,
President Kagame is to get a private screening of the movie SHAKE HANDS WITH
THE DEVIL and has been invited to the Toronto International Film Festival to
attend the world premiere of the film on September 9th, 2007:
It's a 'courtesy call', film's producer says (heart will be in throat when he
screens for president of Rwanda). GlobeMail, Aug 5, 2007
All the best,
Sharangabo Rufagari
Greetings Sharangabo,
That's exciting news that the movie SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL is now
complete and the producer is making a special trip to Rwanda to show it to
President Kagame. I really hope it's a good one and that President Kagame will
like it. Maybe then he'll come to the Toronto Film Festival and you'll see him
again as you did at the Rwanda Film Festival in New York. See RWANDA RAVE
REVIEWS
I've been really looking forward to seeing the finished SHAKE HANDS movie
especially since I was in Rwanda last summer when they were filming it. Some of
the people working on it were staying at our hotel! Then this past summer, when
I was in Rwanda again, another movie was being filmed on location there. See
HILLYWOOD RWANDA.
Shortly after getting back to Canada last summer there was a big write-up in
the Globe & Mail newspaper about the making of SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL. What
amazed me is how much the actor who plays Dallaire LOOKS like Dallaire, who is
seen on the cover of his book by the same name. Actually, today is August
5th, 2007 and it was exactly a year ago - August 5th, 2006 - that that article
about the making of SHAKE HANDS appeared. I clipped it out and put it in my
Rwanda file. It's scanned below and people can read by clicking to enlarge (and
also is that book cover with the photo of Romeo Dallaire for comparison to the
actor who plays him, Roy Dupuis):
I'll be following Rwanda news this week looking for a write-up on how
Thursday's screening for President Kagame goes. Hopefully the New Times
newspaper will be back on-line by then.
All the best,
Jackie Jura
President of Rwanda to get private screening of film:
SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL
Globe & Mail, Aug 4, 2007
A producer of the soon-to-be-released film Shake Hands with the Devil admits
his heart will be in his throat when he privately screens the drama about the
Rwandan genocide for the country's president Paul Kagame in Rwanda on Thursday.
The film is based on the story of Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire and
shouldn't be confused with the 2004 documentary of the same name, which also
tells Dallaire's story as a Canadian commander struggling with the horrifically
ineffectual United Nations' peacekeeping mission and its efforts to stem the
killing.
The new film stars acclaimed Quebec actor Roy Dupuis and was shot in and
around Kigali with the participation of Rwandan actors. During shooting a year
ago, the filmmakers had met with the president, discussing his role in leading
Rwandan Patriotic Front forces, which brought an end to the slaughter of up to
one million ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus by Hutu extremist groups.
Kagame has been invited to the Toronto International Film Festival to attend
the world premiere of the film on Sept. 9, but the president hasn't confirmed
whether he will be able to attend. But next week, the filmmakers are taking
their film to Rwanda as "a courtesy call to President Kagame. They didn't
request it, we offered it. He was one of the major players," said the film's
co-producer Laszlo Barna yesterday. "We are not going there for approvals.
Notwithstanding that, my heart is in my throat."
"When we were filming, we had two psychologists on set at all times," Barna
said. "People were breaking down in the middle of scenes. We used a lot of
Rwandan actors and Rwandan extras. And it was not unusual that people broke up
because we were re-enacting portions of the genocide."
"The Rwandans were incredibly hospitable," he added. "They made available all
the props we needed to stage a war -- tanks, machine guns, armed personnel
carriers. They let us work, and never asked us to see the script."
Dallaire remains a respected figure in Rwanda, Barna noted. "He is one of the
people who saved over 30,000 people. He didn't leave when the UN ordered him
out. So there's a tremendous enthusiasm, and they are hopeful this will tell
the story of the abandonment of Rwanda by the UN and the international
community."
However, this isn't the first film to dramatize the Rwandan genocide by
shooting on location in Rwanda and using Rwandan actors. For instance, the 2005
British - German film Shooting Dogs, which also played the Toronto festival to
positive reviews, similarly told the story of UN forces leaving Tutsis to die,
although it centred more on the story of a Catholic priest played by actor John
Hurt.
Barna, who is based in Toronto, emphasized that the script for Shake Hands
With the Devil wasn't vetted by Rwandan officials and that Kagame won't have
any say in the final edit or be granted any changes to the film after he sees
it next week. "No one has control over this film except for my co-producer
Michael Donovan and Laszlo Barna," Barna said. The film will be distributed by
Seville Pictures in Canada and is scheduled to be released in late September.
RWANDA'S GOOD MAN KAGAME and HOW KAGAME BECAME LEADER
Jackie Jura
~ an independent researcher monitoring local, national and international events
~
website: www.orwelltoday.com & email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
email: Orwell Today
[input]
Sharangabo Rufagari
Montreal
http://www.rpfinkotanyi.org/?page=indirimbo
RWANDA RAVE REVIEWS
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