During the genocide of 1994, more than two thousand people were killed at a technical school in Kigali , the Ecole Technique Officiel or ETO. Now, ten years on, the same school has provided the location for a BBC film Shooting Dogs.
Shooting Dogs producer is David Belton, who worked in Rwanda as a BBC reporter during the genocide. He says he has long felt the urge to tell the world about what he saw in 1994.
“It’s a dream come true for me! I’ve been thinking about coming back to Rwanda for ten years to make something of lasting value about what happened here” says David
The film is aimed at international audiences who may know little about Rwanda . The story focuses on a middle-aged white priest, a young English teacher and a young Rwandan woman. All three are caught up in the slaughter of 1994, as armed militia surrounds the ETO, where hundreds of students are studying and UN soldiers have a small base.
John Hurt is one of UK ‘s finest film actors. He appeared in many films including Scandal, Hell Boy, Rob Roy and the Harry Potter series.
Hurt who is featuring in Shooting dogs as father Christopher says the film will expose the two sides of human nature.
“There is no good people and bad people as such. Every human being is capable of everything. What sets us apart from the animal world basically is free will and choice, whether we make the right choices or the wrong choices” explains the 64 year-old film actor.
Hugh Dancy who plays Joe, is a rising young star from England . He has appeared in King Arthur and Black Hawk Down.
A graduate of Oxford University , who loves reading, Hugh says he learned a lot during his time in Rwanda .
“I think it is quite unique in so many respects I’ve acted in films before that were true stories but to come and film the story of the ETO here in the place that it happened and many of the Rwandan people that have come to help us; they are working on the film, they are in the film as actors and extras who were here in the ETO or who were here during 1994; that’s a unique experience” explains Hugh Dancy.
Over six hundred locals worked on the film, earning a minimum of around twelve thousand Rwandan francs a day, that’s about twenty US dollars. Some earned more, depending on their skills and film experience. They all welcomed a chance to help tell their story to the world.
Karasira Venuste, for example, lost an arm in the butchery at ETO but survived the killings. His daughter was killed and all the other members of his family were seriously wounded.
“I am happy to act in this film because it gives me an opportunity to participate telling the International Community more about the Rwandan genocide”, says Karasira
It should also help some younger Rwandans to understand too. Arthur Nkusi was just three years old in 1994. He says acting in the film helped him learn more about what happened in Rwanda during the genocide.
The lead lady on set, Claire Ashitey, is still in high school in London . This is her first film, and quite an experience. “I think it’s really a hard film to start on! It’s certainly been very challenging but also quite interesting” says the 17 year old student.
Shooting Dogs is the third film shot in Rwanda after 100 Days and Sometimes in April
This movie takes its title from a conversation between two characters, about whether to shoot dogs eating dead bodies. It’s an ironic reference to fact that the UN Security Council would not allow UN troops to use force to prevent genocide.
Instead, the troops were told to monitor a peace agreement signed in Arusha , Tanzania . When the genocide began, ten Belgian soldiers were butchered. Their desperate colleagues could only watch the killing spread across Kigali, before they were ordered to pull out.
Tim Vallings worked as an extra, playing a UN soldier. He says the acting was fun, but not when they had to leave ‘refugees’ behind. “It was quite difficult to do because you get very involved in what’s going on and even doing it take after take, I do get a sense of abandonment after each take that we had done”, remarks Tim
Director Michael Caton-Jones is a Scotsman based in New York . He has directed several well-known films including “This Boy’s Life”, “The Jackal” and “Rob Roy”. He’s worked with many top names, including Robert De Niro, Richard Gere and Bruce Willis. But nothing beats Rwanda , he says.
“ It’s been one of the warmest receptions I have ever heard on a film anywhere I have shot from. It’s been very satisfying” admits the director “For a country that has no film making infrastructure, it’s been remarkable how the people have learned quickly and picked up and enthusiastically joined in the whole film making process”
So does this mean Rwanda has a real future in film-making? Producer David Belton believes Rwandans have the potential to develop their acting and drama skills. He says the challenge for Rwandans is to see Rwanda move on beyond the three films that have been made about the genocide and develop a proper dramatic and theatrical culture.
“I think it is terribly important that both at schools and university people see the huge potential that is here for people to express themselves” says the producer “I would love to see other film makers come to this country and start to make films not just about genocide but about other things”
With a budget of seven million US dollars, Shooting Dogs is a joint production by BBC Films, UK Film Council, and CrossDay Production s and Kivu Films. Director Michael Caton-Jones says operating on this budget is challenging
“The most challenging thing I think has been the fact that we actually have a small budget for what we are trying to achieve” he explains “We’ve been trying to achieve something of a bigger scale of film, and we do not have enough money to do it so we got to be quite ingenious about trying to make it bigger and make it look realistic and just give it some scale”
Money was not the only limitation. In Hollywood , scripts have to be short and tightly-written.
“The most challenging thing I think is that in the story, there is so much information to try and tell” says Hugh Dancy. “You are trying to make it as realistic as possible for European audience, who probably will start watching the film knowing almost nothing. You have to feed them information about Rwanda in 1994, about what it was before 1994 without them even knowing it. So that’s quite difficult sometimes”
It may possible to act, but it’s impossible to forget. During the filming, some locals worked on traumatic scenes similar to their experiences during the genocide
“ It’s not an easy thing to act in this film because one is reminded of many bad things that they have lived through” concedes Karasira, a genocide survivor
Shooting Dogs will be released in summer 2005, and a public screening is planned for Amahoro National Stadium so that as many Rwandans as possible can see it for themselves.