The movie Sometimes in April begins with Augustine teaching and then when he gets home, his brother calls him to come and witness his trial for the Rwandan Genocide. Augustine goes to the trial and when his brother’s trial begins the movie goes back to what happened 10 years ago. Augustine was a soldier with his friend Xavier. The movie shows that after the president's plane gets shot down things get worse. The genocide begins and Augustine gets his and Xavier’s wives and children to escape with his brother Honore, who was a well-known radio personality but the rebels shoot Augustine’s children, wife, and Xavier’s wife. Augustine’s wife manages to survive. In the movie on the first day of the genocide, 8000 people are killed. Augustine and Xavier plan to also escape using the United Nations but the UN soldiers only take white Americans into the vans and refuse to take anyone else. Augustine then decides to follow the UN cars and trucks but gets stopped by rebels the rebels discover that Xavier is a Hutu and he gets killed immediately. At Santé Marie School, Augustine’s daughter's school rebels and soldiers of the FPR commit a mass murder when the girls refuse to identify what tribe they belong to. Augustine’s daughter survives the mass murder but shortly after dies. Towards the end of the movie, the movie goes back to the “present” and after the trial, Augustine finally gets the courage to ask his brother what happened to his wife and kids. On the 100th day of the genocide, 1 million people were killed in Kigali where the movie is based.
In 1990 the Rwandan Patriotic Front with 6000 troops came into Rwanda. The Hutu militias who were known as ‘interchange’ killed most members of political parties after killing the president of Rwanda. People in political parties were put on a list and hunted down to be killed one by one. The RPF set up roadblocks almost everywhere and would ask citizens for identity cards if they stated Hutu the militate would kill them immediately. If the soldiers suspected that a citizen looked more like a Hutu they would kill that person. The RPF’s goal was to kill every and any Hutu by the 5th of May, The violence was so bad that even the churches in Kigali refused to let people who were in danger run into the church for safety but eventually, some mass murders were done in the churches. The ‘soldiers’ of the RPF used weapons such as machetes and wooden clubs to kill and would sometimes order ordinary people to commit these murders. During the genocide, rape was common. The United Nations did not help Rwanda much during the genocide, they even reduced their troops from 2500 to 270. The United Nations then ‘stepped in’ only after the genocide to try and have trials for the perpetrators of the genocide.
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This newspaper article states that the history between the Tutsis and Hutus is marked by hatred and tribal violence. The article describes the Tutsi people as taller and more light-skinned than Hutu. Hutu people are of a majority and Tutsi’s are a minority. The Tutsis were natural herders and came into the area in the 14/15th centuries and dominated the Hutus slowly who were mainly farmers. The two ethnic groups did not have much of a difference between them they spoke the same language and shared the same religious beliefs The article states that because 11 United Nations soldiers have been killed the UN is most likely to pull out of the country. The source states that a river that separates Burundi and Rwanda is filled with bloody bodies. The source doubts that the newly elected president will be able to stop the killings.
Sometimes In April is a movie based on the Rwandan Genocide. Released on the 17th of February by Raoul Peck. The movie is 2 hours and 20 minutes 36 seconds long
There are multiple reasons why the movie Sometimes In April is historically accurate. The movie shows real incidents that happened during the genocide, the movie shows how people were killed and it shows to what extent the world played a role in helping Rwanda.
In the movie Sometimes In April, the viewer is shown multiple important incidents before and after the genocide. The president's plane is shot down (Source B) by what looks like an RPF rebel, As history shows, prominent government officials are put on lists, hunted down, and killed (Source C) and we are shown how Rwanda is ruled by rebels and RPF members for a whole 100 days. Roadblocks are put up everywhere (Source C) in Kigali where the movie is set and where the actual genocide happened which gives the movie more historical accuracy.
During the genocide people specifically, the Hutu people were killed in the most brutal ways.RPF soldiers would do mass killings and even force ordinary citizens to commit their atrocities (Source C). This is shown In the movie where churches decide to not accept anyone into the church but the soldiers end up committing mass murders in the churches. Women would be raped and passed around by the soldiers (Source C) in the movie this is shown when Augustine's wife is raped for trying to fight for her life. Another brutal scene of the type of murder is when Xavier is shot in the face for his identity card stating that he is Hutu.
The genocide lasted for a brutal 100 days, The United Nations did not do much to help the people in Rwanda because of the history of violence in the country (Source D). The movie shows the UN debating what exactly to do and concluding they should help Americans only, this is historically accurate because the UN reduced their troops (Source B). After the genocide the UN helped Rwanda with trials this happened historically and in the movie(Source B)
However, because the movie has to have a story line some parts of the movie were dramatized and not all 100 days of the genocide were shown.
Sometimes In April is extensively historically accurate and has a good value, origin, and purpose.
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