"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

In April 1994, one of the most heinous genocides in world history began in the African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of 100 days, close to one million people were killed in a terrifying purge by Hutu nationalists against their Tutsi countrymen. This harrowing HBO Films drama focuses on the almost indescribable human atrocities that took place a decade ago through the story of two Hutu brothers - one in the military, one a radio personality - whose relationship and private lives were forever changed in the midst of the genocide. Written and directed by Raoul Peck (HBO Films' "Lumumba"), the movie is the first large-scale film about the 100 days of the 1994 Rwandan genocide to be shot in Rwanda, in the locations where the real-life events transpired.

Both an edge-of-the-seat thriller and a chilling reminder of man's incomprehensible capacity for cruelty, Sometimes in April is an epic story of courage in the face of daunting odds, as well as an exposé of the West's inaction as nearly a million Rwandans were being killed. The plot focuses on two brothers embroiled in the 1994 conflict between the Hutu majority (who had ruled Rwanda since 1959) and the Tutsi minority who had received favored treatment when the country was ruled by Belgium. The protagonists (both Hutus) are reluctant soldier Augustin Muganza (Idris Elba), married to a Tutsi and father to three, and his brother Honoré (Oris Erhuero), a popular public figure espousing Hutu propaganda from a powerful pulpit: Radio RTLM in Rwanda.

The drama is set in two periods, which unfold concurrently: In April 1994, after the Hutu Army begins a systematic slaughter of Tutsis and more moderate Hutus, Augustin and a fellow Army officer named Xavier, defying their leadership, attempt to get their wives and children to safety. Separated from his wife Jeanne and their two sons (whom he entrusts to the care of his reluctant brother), Augustin gets caught in a desperate struggle to survive. Barely escaping the purge, he's haunted by questions about what happened to his wife, sons and daughter (who was a student at a local boarding school). In 2004, looking for closure and hoping to start a new life with his girlfriend Martine (who taught at his daughter's school), Augustin visits the United Nations Tribunal in Arusha, where Honoré awaits trial for the incendiary role he and other journalists played in the genocide. In the end, through an emotional meeting with Honoré, Augustin learns the details of his family's fate, giving him closure and, perhaps, hope for happiness in the future


Idris Elba......... as Augustin Muganza
Oris Erhuero......as Honoré Muganza
Debra Winger.....as Prudence Bushnell


HBO Films presents
a Velvet Film Production
in Association with Yolo Films

A Raoul Peck Film

SOMETIMES IN APRIL

Idris Elba Debra Winger
Music by Bruno Coulais
Edited by Jacques Comets
Production Designer Benoit Barouh
Director of Photography Eric Guichard, A.F.C.
Producer Daniel Delume
Executive Producers Raoul Peck Joel Stillerman
Written and Directed by Raoul Peck


WORLD SALES
HBO Films London

_________

DEUTSCH

Nach seinem Spielfilm LUMUMBA, der ihn 2000 weithin bekannt machte, widmet sich Raoul Peck in seinem jüngsten Film erneut der jüngeren Geschichte Afrikas. Er spielt vor dem Hintergrund des Völkermords in Ruanda, dem 1994 innerhalb von 100 Tagen eine Million Menschenleben zum Opfer fielen; 3,5 Millionen Frauen, Männer und Kinder flohen damals aus ihrem Land.
Die Massaker, begangen von Hutu-Milizien an Tutsis und moderaten Angehörigen ihres eigenen Volkes, beginnen am Morgen des 7. April, nachdem in der Nacht zuvor das Flugzeug des Hutu-Präsidenten Habyarimana beim Landeanflug auf die Hauptstadt Kigali abgeschossen worden ist. Innerhalb von Stunden beginnt das Morden. Straßenblockaden werden errichtet, die Milizen der Interahamwe beginnen zu foltern und zu zerstören. Zu den Hutu-Soldaten gehört auch Augustin Muganza. Gemeinsam mit
seinem Kameraden Xavier entzieht er sich der militärischen Führung, um seine Frau, die Angehörige der Tutsi ist, und seine Kinder in Sicherheit zu bringen. Doch Augustin kann nicht mehr zu ihnen gelangen. Er wird festgenommen. Was aus seiner Familie wird, erfährt er nicht, aber er muss das Schlimmste befürchten.
Zehn Jahre später will er einen Schlussstrich unter die Vergangenheit ziehen und mit seiner Freundin Martine ein neues Leben beginnen. Zu zweit besuchen sie das UN-Tribunal in Arusha, wo sich Augustins Bruder Honoré für die aufhetzerische Rolle, die er und andere Journalisten in diesem verheerenden Bruderkrieg spielten, vor einer Wahrheitskommission verantworten muss…

Regie: Raoul Peck

USA/Ruanda, 2004
Länge: 139 Min.
Format: 35 mm, 1:1.85, Farbe

Darsteller
Augustin Muganza > Idris Elba
Secretary Bushnell > Debra Winger
Martine > Pamela Nomvete
Jeanne > Carole Karemera
Honoré > Oris Erhuero
Xavier > Fraser James
Lionel Quaid > Noah Emmerich
Anne-Marie > Michelle Rugema
Colonel Bagosora > Abby Mikiibi Nkaaga
Valentine > Cleophas Kabasiita
und Sonia Ntare

Buch: Raoul Peck
Kamera: Eric Guichard
Schnitt: Jacques Comets
Ton: Stéphane Thiébaut
Musik: Bruno Coulais
Ausstattung: Benoit Barouh
Regieassistenz: Nicolas Cambois
Casting: Sylvie Brocheré, Avy Kaufman

Ausführende Produzenten: Raoul Peck, Joel Stillerman
Produzent: Daniel Delume

Produktion
HBO Films
2500 Broadway, Suite 400
USA-Santa Monica, CA 90404
Tel.: 310-382 30 00
Fax: 310-382 33 11
kevin.blanchette@hbo.com

Weltvertrieb
HBO Films
Warner House
98 Theobald's Road
GB-London WC1X 8WB
Tel.: 207-984 50 51
Fax: 207-984 50 52


2005 | Berlinale
* Competition
www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/2005/02_programm_2005/02_Filmdatenblatt_2005_20050466.php