Hotel Rwanda Anthropology

In Hotel Rwanda, a 2004 film directed by Terry George, one of the first voices heard is that of a radio broadcaster from the Hutu power radio, Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM), claiming, “Rwanda is our Hutu land. We are the majority. They are a minority of traitors and invaders. We will squash the infestation.” This was the mentality of many ethnic Hutus that participated in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi minority living in Rwanda. Linked with the autobiography published by Paul Rusesabagina, Hotel Rwanda tells the true story of how a hotel manager in the Rwandan capital of Kigali managed to save more than 1,200 Rwandan refugees as ethnic tensions and violence peaked in 1994 between the Hutus and the Tutsis. While the majority of the film follows Rusesabagina’s struggle to protect his family and fellow countrymen from slaughter, the film also brings to light the ethnic conflict that had been escalating since the era of European colonization and the Western racial prejudice and ambivalence towards the 1994 massacres.