Sometimes in April

Raoul Peck
Idris Elba, Carole Karemera, Pamela Nomvete, Olivier Ashuro, Fraser James, Abby Mukiibi Nkaaga, Cleophas Kabasita, Noah Emmerich, Debra Winger, Peninah Abatoni, Ashani Alles, Hope Azeda, Théogène Barasa, Dan Barlow, Johannes Bausch
2005
France, USA
Completed
English, Kinyarwanda
140 minutes
Detailed introduction
This film (drama)Also known asSometimes in April,is aFrance, USAProducerwomen sex,At2005Released in year
。The dialogue language isEnglish, Kinyarwanda,Current Douban rating8.1(For reference only)。
"Sometimes in April" - A tragic film depicting the 1994 Rwandan genocide in which the Western world did not intervene, it was included in the competition section of the Berlin Film Festival, being one of two films about this atrocity in the 11-day festival. While Terry George's "Hotel Rwanda" focuses on the same background and theme, Raoul Peck presents the trauma of civil war through a different lens. These two films, along with "Karmen Gei," showcase the rising prominence of South African cinema. The graphic portrayal of the bloody scenes of the genocide in "Sometimes in April" is far more shocking than the screening film "Hotel Rwanda." This film, co-produced by the United States and Rwanda, is the first major film about the genocide of around 800,000 Tutsis and Hutus, filmed on location in Rwanda and featuring a large number of local residents as extras. Haitian-born director and human rights activist Raoul Peck stated that using Rwandans who still vividly remember the disaster as extras may help foreign audiences better understand their inner fears. Peck, holding back tears, said, "Everything in the film is real. I think it's rare to have the opportunity for such a situation, where the relationships and conflicts between different ethnic groups explode instantaneously, and anything that could happen becomes reality." The film tells the story of a Hutu soldier who becomes separated from his Tutsi wife and two sons amid the chaos of the initial genocide in April 1994. It is only ten years later, when he encounters his brother Xavier, that he learns about their fates. Meanwhile, Xavier, a journalist, is on trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania, accused of inciting violence through radio broadcasts. The film also mentions Debra Winger, a U.S. State Department official, who attempted to persuade then-President Bill Clinton to take action. Another film on the same subject, "Hotel Rwanda," premiered earlier this week and participated in the non-competitive section of the Berlin Film Festival. Peck consciously decided to depict more vivid scenes of violence than "Hotel Rwanda." He stated, "My first goal was to make the film as brutally real as possible without turning the audience away. I need the audience; I need them to watch the entire film and go through this horrific journey. There were no cameras around when this planned genocide occurred." Peck spent months investigating in Rwanda and Tanzania, with some content in the script derived from transcripts of tribunal hearings. He said some Rwandans who acted in the film insisted they could only portray victims, never perpetrators, as the tragedy from ten years ago remains deeply embedded in their memories. Peck mentioned that a team of five expert psychologists was present on set 24 hours a day during filming. Belgian actress Carole Karemera, who plays a Tutsi victim, said that the production process was a form of spiritual therapy for many affected individuals. She remarked, "Only by enduring pain can you feel shame and then find peace. Now we are trying to talk about it and starting to believe in the rest of humanity again."