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- Title
Based on the True Story: Cinema's Mythologised Vision of the Rwandan Genocide.
- Authors
Cook, Ann-Marie
- Abstract
This chapter considers the iconographic and ideological implications of representations of the Rwandan genocide in the docudramas 100 Days, Hotel Rwanda, Shooting Dogs, and Sometimes in April. Collectively, these films have won acclaim for bringing the story of the Rwandan genocide to audiences who knew little about the 1994 massacre. But it is my contention that, despite trading on claims of authenticity and historical accuracy, the films construct ideologically driven, and deeply mythologized depictions of the genocide that elide the matrix of complex factors at the root of the violence. I de-mythologize these representations by identifying how the iconography of genocide operates in tandem with the selective use of historical facts to sustain reductionism, Manichean narratives that demonise Hutus, sanctify Tutsis and the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) and condemn the UN and other Western governments for failing to intervene to stop the genocide. I argue that by refusing to acknowledge details such as the RPF's participation in acts of genocide, the US government's behind-the-scenes involvement in the conflict and the role of political, economic and historical factors in facilitating the violence, the films mislead audiences by cloaking what is little more than mythologized propaganda in the guise of historical fact.
- Subjects
GENOCIDE in mass media; MOTION pictures; HISTORICAL fiction; 100 Days (Film); HOTEL Rwanda (Film); RWANDA (Film); SHOOTING Dogs (Film); SOMETIMES in April (Film)
- Publication
At the Interface / Probing the Boundaries, 2011, Vol 63, p161
- ISSN
1570-7113
- Publication type
Article