Hotel Rwanda

It is tragic and ironic that, not long after Schindler's List reminded audiences worldwide of the Jewish Holocaust, to provoking predictable if well-intentioned statements of the 'those who do not remember history are condemned to repeat it' variety, another genocide should have taken place in Rwanda as members of the Hutu militia sought to exterminate the Tutsis.

The sad truth, however, was that in the world of contemporary realpolitik no-one in a position of power whether in the US or EU – to name and shame the most obvious offenders – really cared about an African nation with little strategic importance and an absence of oil reserves. Though the Hutu and Tutsi identities were in large part the creation of western imperialism – the Belgian divide-and-rule policy favouring the latter as higher on a racist evolutionary scale – when push came to shove they were all, as the central figure here, the educated and somewhat westernised majordomo of the 'Hotel Rwanda', Paul Rusesabagina, ultimately recognises, just anonymous "niggers" as far as most of the white world was concerned.

It's an attitude that, sadly, seems also to have prevailed within the movie industry, with writer/director Terry George struggling to raise funding for the modestly budgeted film, despite Rusesabagina's position as a Schindler-like figure giving refuge to over 1,000 Tutsi refugees in the grounds of his hotel, and the presence of Don Cheadle, Nick Nolte and Jean Reno. (Okay, they are maybe not 'A' list figures, but then neither were Ralph Fiennes, Liam Neeson and Ben Kingsley at the time Schindler's List was released.)

With quality performances from all concerned – Cheadle and Sophie Okonedo as his wife are simply brilliant, while Nolte and Reno provide timely reminders of their qualities as actors, rather than star presences, as two men trying to do the right thing against a backdrop of governmental indifference – and no-nonsense, hard-hitting direction from George, Hotel Rwanda is a film that demands to be seen by every human being.

For, whatever our differences, the ultimate truth is surely that we all bleed red.