The movie Sometimes In April
depicting the Rwandan genocide of 1994 was what I chose to discuss. The movie begins
with Augustine, a Hutu man, discussing the Rwandan genocide with his students
on the tenth anniversary of the events. The movie flashes back to 1994 before
the genocide began where the viewer is introduced to Augustine’s family. He has
two sons, a daughter, is married to a Tutsi woman and is a member of the
Rwandan military. While at work he begins to get wind of the events that will
happen; lists with names of Tutsis and moderate Hutu, caches of weapons
provided by international communities, the training of a young army. The viewer
then meets Augustine’s brother, Honore. Honore is the popular host of a hate
radio show spewing propaganda against the Tutsi people and calling for the mass
destruction of the Tutsi “race”. When the violence begins, Augustine’s entire
family is murdered under his brother’s watch. The movie flashes back and forth
between 1994 and 2004 where Augustine is struggling to come to terms with his
loss. Honore is in a tribunal answering to his actions during the genocide and
requests Augustine come visit him so he can tell him about what happened with
Augustine’s family. After learning the truth about his wife and children,
Augustine seems to be coming to a point where he can move on with his life and
continue the process of healing in a post-genocidal society.
The most important aspect of
Sometimes In April, in my opinion, is that it calls out the international
communities for their inactivity and lack of response as well as their “dirty
hands” in the perpetration. Many scholars argue that racism and a superior
attitude of Western countries is responsible for the refusal to get involved. The viewpoint of all Africans as “tribal” and “at war with each other”
is popular amongst Western powers when the concept of intervention into political
matters comes into play. These viewpoints ignore the roll Western influence has
played in many of these conflicts as well. Sometimes In April discusses not
only the effects Belgian colonialism had on the people of Rwanda but also the
funding provided by countries around the world, which allowed them to kill
their fellow countrymen.
The inability of the UN troops to accurately
protect those they were sent there for in combination of the evacuation of
foreign aid was demonstrated to truly convey how alone Unlike other
popular Hollywood films depicting the Rwandan genocide, Sometimes In April
realistically displays not only what happened to those who were victims of the
genocide, but also how the survivors are coming to terms with their lives. In
Sometimes In April the audience was allowed to bond with characters that would
not survive the genocide, something that allows the viewers to feel even a
small semblance of what it was like to witness the genocide; whole families
rarely survived as in other depictions.
skulls of those killed during the genocide
https://www.flickr.com/photos/12015751@N00/4474577838/in/photolist-7Ppo6L-7g2umr-2PLh7L-7g6poW-7g2zMH-rGumh-7g6uSE-rGmAf-5umrSa-9gF6E9-a9UAmz-5iE7Q3-rGuqo-cvN3m1-7WCs7z-5izSWX-7g2A6e-arRcsP-6EZAkB-dzdkrd-7g2xFM-7g2xPM-7g6tGs-dngeX3-9gC1hM-9fqgRp-rGu1Z-mHKHmt-9ftpLA-WgrBc-7g6pgb-9xRWa-rGugX-87yZCo-a9UA3v-Wkg3G-BWWwu-5umr34-7Ponaz-7Psj2J-7g6w4Y-BWWCj-BWWqi-BWWdS-BWW7q-2PKjWy-9VzVmo-9gC1AB-apoG1g-5uqQnY-rGu3p
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