Frontline: Ghosts of Rwanda

Description

FRONTLINE marks the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide with a documentary chronicling one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century. In addition to interviews with key government officials and diplomats, the two-hour documentary offers eyewitness accounts of the genocide from those who experienced it firsthand. FRONTLINE illustrates the failures that enabled the slaughter of 800,000 people to occur unchallenged by the global community.

Customer Reviews:

PBS special: one of the best.......2007-06-01

I teach a genocide and hate awareness class. As a teacher, this documentary outstrips other videos concerning the atrocities in Rwanda. So many of our kids have seen Hotel Rwanda. Not that it is bad, but it was edited by the director to not be as graphic as it could have been, and many of the key characters were changed, such as Gen. Dallaire into Nick Nolte's character.
The Ghosts of Rwanda interview many key people, from Dallaire to Kofi Annan, to the only American left in Rwanda to Hutu farmers who participated in the killings. It is the most indepth coverage that I can find. I would recommend it to anyone wanting information on the Rwandan genocide.

5 stars.......2007-05-13

If you want to see the Rwandan genocide from an international perspective with interviews ranging from Kofe Annan to Madeline Albright I highly reccomend this documentary. Graphic at times, but always poignant.

The Depths of Darkness.......2007-03-19

This 2 hour Frontline special probes into the depths of darkness in humanity, not just the Hutu's and Tutsi's, but also the UN, the international community and its leaders. I was shocked and dismayed by some of the cold callous acts perpetrated by western governments during Rwanda's hour of need. I use "hour of need" of course as a figment of speech, since this atrocity took place over 100 days.

This video clearly documents the events of the Rwandan Genocide. It interviews key players in the international community as well as those who participated in, and were victims of the Genocide. For the most part, the video shows the Genocide from an outside perspective. It volleys back and forth between all of the killing in Rwanda and the international communities response. The footage of death is deeply saddening. I was only uplifted by the few stories of individuals who risked their lives to save some.

I would have loved to see them make this into a three part special since it does not give the background into the area or the history that led up to such a tension, nor does it explore the colonial legacy that the Rwandans inherited. I was also disappointed that it didn't cover the events that took place after the RPF won the civil war. Understandably, they could not cover all aspects in one film, but and introduction and a follow-up would really help paint a fuller picture of events. Overall, I highly recommend this video, it is hard to watch, but it definitely opened up my eyes to the plight of so many people in Rwanda.

A Great Documentary.......2007-02-11

I watched this documentary on PBS and I must say that it is one of the best ones I have seen in my whole life. And it is extremely disturbing too, because it sadly reminds us of what the human being is still capable of. The murder of almost one million lives in a couple of weeks was a shame for the whole mankind. The international community did nothing to stop the killings, the UN was as always deplorable and the soi-disant civilised world, i.e. the USA, France, UK, Belgium, Germany et alii, did not mind to intervene for political reasons, although at the time the USA had the marines in nearby Burundi. The Clinton administration and Kofi Annan(at the time chief of the peace keeping operations) did absolutely nothing concrete but uttering stupid, useless rhetorical and technical speeches. Not to mention the shameful, coward stance of the Belgian government that panicked and withdrew its troops and citizens. The real heroes were a bunch of canadian and african troops that did their very best to protect the remaining tutsis and moderate hutus and therefore deserve our biggest praises for all their efforts. Again, it is one more appalling moment in the human history. It seems we never learn. Among the scenes that shocked me forever are the sad images of dead bodies being drifted away in a rwandan river and of a little girl, nowadays a lady, being found alive among the dead bodies of her family. This DVD provides a wonderful opportunity to think over the sordid and noxious nature of European colonialism in Africa, after all, Rwanda was a Belgian colony and the Belgian fomented the apartheid between the Tutsis and Hutus through, among other things, the use of ID cards stating their ethnicity. It also shows the dangers of hands-off policies when intervention is morally and rightly justified and required. This is a must-have DVD. Please, let us not allow another Rwanda to happen again...

The shame of the "civilized world" exposed........2007-02-06

A gripping and honest account of the role that the UN, Europe and USA have had in the Rwanda genocide with the cowardliness of their politics more marketing oriented than interested in the humanitarian cause. Any one thinking about voting for the Clintons again should see this, to grasp the real level of leadership they can produce under heat. Not to mention Kofi Annan (Nobel prize winner ???) a real butcher in diplomat's clothes.

Average customer rating:

A Gruesome, but Necessary Film
Rwanda 1994: 8,000 people killed each day for 100 days
Documentary Filmmaking at it's Best.

Ghosts of Rwanda
Starring: Will Lyman
Director: Greg Barker
Manufacturer: Pbs (Direct)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

( G ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

All | PBS | Specialty Stores | DVD | Video
ASIN: B0002IQBM6
Release Date: 2004-06-29

Customer Reviews:

A Gruesome, but Necessary Film.......2005-01-21

Despite what many in our culture have identified as a gradual desensitization to violence, this documentary reminds us that all too many are simply not willing to look violence and its causes sqaurely in the face. Barker's documentary is a methodical, sober, and reflective look at the genocide in Rwanda that occurred only ten years ago, on the watch of a man who so many (the reviewer included) considered a breath of fresh air. In 1992, Bill Clinton was seen as an energetic young President who would realign America's foreign policy around the human rights principles of Jimmy Carter. Barker rightly identifies the moral failure of Clinton and his administration in their turning away from the ongoing massacre in Rwanda, when there was clear information that the Hutu extremists had planned to exterminate the minority Tutsis, and specifically Tutsi children.

The film cleverly allows the principle figures to tell their own stories, thus leaving viewers to make their own judgments. By juxtaposing the retelling of the horrors by survivors (including a young girl who lived for six weeks in a church filled with hundreds of corpses) with the self-absolving excuses of those such as Kofi Annan and Madeleine Albright, Barker effectively reveals the unwillingness and incompetence of those in the West who had the ability to step in and stop the killing - perhaps not at first, but certainly as the atrocities became known both through the BBC and the Red Cross. Other than the survivors, the most compelling testimony comes from three westerners - Canadian UN general Romeo Dallaire, Red Cross worker Phillipe Gaillard, and American missionary Carl Wilkens. Dallaire's testimony is the clear centerpiece of the film, and he has received the most publicity due to his role as commanding general of the peacekeeping forces. Dallaire, in his opening scene, talks about the fear in the eyes of those who experienced the terror and pled for help, but is in his eyes that we can see the full burden and weight of Rwanda. Gaillard, however, is even more effective, in his understated sense of outrage about the lack of intervention at the highest levels of the U.N. In him we see a man who saw the full horrors of the genocide, yet has a basic compassion for the burden and guilt that Dallaire bears on a daily basis. I am not taken to crying or even tearing up when watching films or documentaries, but Gaillard's testimony is both heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time, and when he tells the viewer that he is OK after all these years, one knows he is both understating his pain and contextualizing it within the much greater (and unimaginable) pain of the 800,000 Rwandans who were murdered, and the grief of their families.

If the film has a weakness (and indeed, this review reproduces the problem) it is that, in rightfully assigning blame for the genocide at the West's doorstep, it lingers too extensively on the reactions of Westerners and does not sufficiently engage with the stories of the Rwandans themselves. We have the account of the young girl who survives the massacre at the church, and there is an excellent portrayal of the Senegalese UN officer Mbaye, who saved hundreds of lives. I would have liked to have heard from Paul Rusesabagina, who has recently been lionized in Terry George's film, Hotel Rwanda. The journalist Phillip Gourevitch was able to talk to several survivors, and it seems that Barker could have done more in this respect.

This is an emotional and powerful film. It works by gradually drawing the viewer into the true horror of the genocide. The killings, confined to Kigali in its initial days, slowly spread to the outer provinces, and in the film's second hour, the viewer is assaulted with the results of the Hutu's murderous project in all of its grisly details. Shots of rotting flesh, neglected corpses, putrefied wounds, severed limbs, dying children, and blood-filled rivers are numerous. I would say that this is not a film for the feint of heart, but to turn away from the reality of what happened is quite simply moral cowardice. Every American should be encouraged to watch this film once they reach an age where they can properly assess the graphic images and process them in the proper ethical context. And there is an important mesage which, in these days of the Iraq war, is increasingly poignant: that military power, when properly deployed, can prevent true evil. As Americans, we need not shrink from this exercise of military power provided we understand its implications and its responsibilities, a lesson for which too many administrations have not displayed consistent appreciation.

Rwanda 1994: 8,000 people killed each day for 100 days.......2004-12-21

Wars are usually not fought to save people's lives; they are fought for economic reasons, to maintain or expand markets around the world. There is no immediate profit from spreading peace, justice, or equality. As any member of the Bush administration will tell you, war is good for business.
In 1994, no one considered Rwanda to be worth getting involved in, and now Europe and America must look back with regret at a situation that escalated into something no one would admit was happening: full-blown genocide. It was not until months and even years later that politicians and journalists realized the magnitude of what had happened after traveling to Rwanda to see the decomposing corpses lying in yards, on church floors, and inside homes.
This documentary is an excellent, sobering, and intense look at what happened in Rwanda during 1994 when the world refused to get involved in a senseless civil war that took the lives of 800,000 men, women, and children over the span of a few months. As in many tragedies, heroic figures emerged to risk themselves for the good of others. The movie includes the stories of Carl Wilkens, an American church worker who stayed behind after every single American had fled; Philippe Gaillard, a Red Cross worker; and Captain Mbaye Diagne, a UN solider who went beyond the call of duty to help save as many as he could.
Hopefully, this film will help people learn about a time many are unaware of and emphasize the importance of thinking globally, not provincially. In short, this DVD is highly recommended.

Documentary Filmmaking at it's Best........2004-09-17

This is simply one of the best films I've seen, documentary or narrative. The atrocities of 1994 are brought to the forefront by those that lived through it. The international ensemble tell what happened with emotion, honesty, and compassion. The pace of this film is of a standard not available on the cable channels. After the holocaust the world said "never again". Of course it did happen again in Rwanda while the world sat back and did nothing. A must see for all people regardless of nationality or political leanings.

DVD:

DVD

DVD