Rwanda News Agency/Agence Rwandaise d'Information (Kigali)
26 September 2007
Kigali — Oscar-winning Canadian producer Michael Donovan is bitter with French distributors for ignoring his movie, 'Shake Hands With the Devil', because it criticizes France for encouraging the 1994 Genocide, RNA has established.
The film portrays former Canadian Lt.-General Romeo Dallaire leading an ill-fated United Nations mission to oversee a fragile cease-fire in Rwanda in 1994.
Rather than bring peace to Rwanda, Gen. Dallaire and his ill-equipped U.N. troops found themselves abandoned by Western countries, including France, and are forced to watch helplessly as the Genocide unfolded.
Mr. Donovan told The Hollywood Reporter in last week that he has had offers from a host of territories internationally, but "dead silence" from France. He will release the film in all Canadan provinces on September 28 after it premiered earlier this month in Toronto.
"Here, a great crime has been committed on behalf of the French people by its government and soldiers, and it's understandable that it might be hard for the citizens of France to acknowledge and reflect upon that," Donovan said.
"But I think the country must reflect and it will be a great shame if they are denied the possibility of seeing this film."
Mr. Donovan says French critics lavished praise on an earlier film he produced - 'Bowling for Columbine', when it was released at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival and heaped criticism on the U.S. and its gun culture.
"That film was hugely popular in France. It was also popular in the U.S., which shows the Americans have a capacity for self-examination," the Canadian producer noted. "But here we have a film critical of France and, interestingly, the French distributors are showing no interest in that."
The daily quotes the Canadian producer to have noted that "historical evidence" indicates the French government backed Hutu extremists who slaughtered thousands of Tutsis and moderate Hutus over just 100 days.
When contacted, retired Gen. Senator Dallaire preferred not to make the issue personal instead saying that he is only a "character played by Roy Dupuis in the film about the tragedy that occurred in Rwanda in 1994".
"I'm afraid we can be of no help. General Dallaire is neither the producer, director nor distributor of the film", Gen. Dallaire said in email answered by his Private Secretary - Mr. David G. Hyman. Mr. Donovan has not responded to our mails and tracking him on phone has also been unsuccessful.
Mr. Hyman told RNA that Gen. Dallaire's hope, in the film's realization, is that the world will never ever forget the hundreds of thousands of innocent Rwandan lives that perished in that madness.
"Having seen the film I believe it will achieve this mission", the General said.
Based on Dallaire's memoirs, "Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda," which also inspired a sturdy 2005 documentary, the film begins with Dallaire, dispatched by the United Nations to keep the peace, arriving in Rwanda with keen determination and an appreciation for the country's natural beauty.
The 115-minute film features Canadian star Roy Dupuis as Romeo Dallaire. Other Characters played include French foreign affairs Minister Bernard Kouchner and former prime minister Agathe Uwiringiyimana (RIP).
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