The Belgian Trotter

At last I found a movie I was looking for!!! Before I continue, I should point out this movie was shot on location in Rwanda in the Summer of 2006. It was the last summer I was in Rwanda. My parents left at the end of that same year.
In that summer they needed extras for the movie. They needed people to play soldier, scared ex pats wanting to return to Europe at the break of the conflict.

So after having to wait a long time for this Canadian movie to be released, I finally saw it! and Yes I have spotted myself

The movie itself is called Shake hands with the devil. Its a movie about the same titled book of Romeo Dallaire.
Dallaire received his commission as the Force Commander of UNAMIR, the United Nations Assistance MIssion for Rwanda. Rwanda had just emerged from civil war between the extremist Hutu population and a small Tutsi rebel faction operating from neighbouring Uganda—with the signing of the Arusha Accords. In fact, UNAMIR’s goal was to assist in the implementation of the Arusha Accords. The Hutus worked through the Rwandan army and then-president of Rwanda, Juvénal Habyarimana, and the Tutsis through the rebel commander Paul Kagame, who is the president of Rwanda today. The conflict became a civil war when extremist Hutus began murdering Tutsis found inside Rwanda’s borders, as well as moderate Hutus who sympathized with the Tutsis. When Dallaire arrived in Rwanda, his mandate was to supervise the implementation of the Accords during a transitional period in which Tutsis were supposed to be given positions of power within the Hutu government.

He wrote his awful experiences about the failing of the West to prematurely stop the genocide! It’s not a happy movie. In the same genre you could also watch: Hotel Rwanda (most commonly known of all), Shooting dogs (I think one of the best) and Sometimes in April (most shocking one).
Shake hands with the devil was directed by Roger Spottiswoode known for James Bond’s Tomorrow Never Dies and also Air America (an old one).

Enjoy the pictures
ps: also in the picture are Bart and Guy. 2 belgian friends in Rwanda. Bart is the head surgeon of Kigali Hospital.

ps: Here is the trailer: