Product Details

• Format: Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: PBS
• DVD Release Date: May 10, 2005
• Run Time: 120 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0007TKI06
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,523 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • #5 in Movies & TV > DVD > TV News Programming

Editorial Reviews

In addition to interviews with key government officials & diplomats this offers groundbreaking eyewitness accounts of the genocide from those who experienced it first hand: from tutsi survivors: to the diplomats on the scene: to the un peacekeepers who were ordered not to intervene. Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 05/10/2005 Run time: 120 minutes Rating: Nr

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

99 of 101 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good but USA-centric, June 16, 2005

By 

M. Nielsen (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Frontline: Ghosts of Rwanda (DVD)

This program is well done and very informative. It is definitely worth watching for anyone interested in the disaster in Rwanda. The interviews alone make the program worthwhile.

My only complaint about this program is that it is unmistakably USA-centric. A significant focus of the program is the shameful role of the U.S. in opposing every meaningful proposal for timely intervention or support of the meager peace keeping force on the ground in Rwanda. Though all the attention given to this aspect of the Rwandan disaster is worthwhile, there was no discussion of the responsibility of other Security Council members, especially France. The role of France is particularly deserving of analysis because of its close relationship with the regime, its role as a military adviser to the regime, and the use of its troops in Operation Turquoise to shelter the regime's retreat to refugee camps outside Rwanda once the genocide had been completed. Yet the program hardly mentions France at all, still unapologetic over its role in Rwanda. Similarly, the program skips over entirely the difficult questions surrounding the troubling lack of moral leadership of the Catholic and Anglican Churches in what had nominally been the most Christian country in Africa. The feckless response of the UN leaders in New York is not examined very closely, notwithstanding a few regretful, self-serving bromides from Kofi Anan, who was in charge of peace keeping missions at the time. There is not a single mention of UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who helped suppress any effective UN response. If time did not permit examination of all these issues, then the coverage of the American response should have been reduced to allow more focus on Kigali, New York, and Paris.

I recommend this program, but I also recommend that it be re-titled: "Ghosts of Rwanda: The American Perspective." I also recommend "Bystanders to Genocide" in the September 2001 issue of The Atlantic (the author was briefly interviewed in the program) and the report of Organization of African Unity, "Rwanda: The Preventable Genocide", both of which are available on the Internet. There are also a number of good books on this tragedy.

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ghosts of Rwanda - Quite a Documentary, May 12, 2005

By 

Jeanne E. Legault (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Frontline: Ghosts of Rwanda (DVD)

While this documentary by Frontline covers a very important issue, and is done very well, I must warn you, it is absolutely heartbreaking to watch. It is 48 hours later following my viewing, and I am still sobbing. We said "Never Again" after the Holocaust, and yet, the world stood by while this most atrocious of genocides took place. I think it is important for everyone to educate themselves about this evil point in the world's history, and on that basis, I would highly recommend this DVD. However, be careful,this video is not for the fainthearted or sensitive viewer. Meanwhile, another genocide is taking place in the Darfur region of Sudan, and again, the United States and the UN are turning a blind eye. Tragic.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most moving film of tragedy and heroism I've ever seen, June 9, 2005

By 

Karen P. Hastings "khast" (Whidbey Island, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Frontline: Ghosts of Rwanda (DVD)

I saw this film when Frontline aired it last year. Like another reviewer, I wept- for the Rwandan victims, for those who tried to help, and for General Dallaire, whose pleas to the world community were ignored. I also saw women and men - embassay staff, UN peacekeepers, missionaries, local citizens - who put their lives on the line, negotiating, pleading, witnessing, and who accomplished much. These men and women were such incredible examples of courage and principle that I wish every school would use this film to show young people, to say: "This is what a hero looks like; this is what a real hero does," and "This is what happens when we become more interested in gossip and clothes than in what is happening to other humans in our world." We in the US really did not see the extent of the horror. Film crews from other countries stayed and filmed what was really happening. It is a stunning piece of work. I increased my pledge to Public Television for their airing of this film and have it in my own library for my grandchildren. With this film and General Dallaire's book and film, perhaps we will not let the Sudan slip from our eyes and hearts the way we did with Rwanda. If you want to see what really happened, not with actors, but with the real people, real time, see this remarkable film.