Customer Reviews

Frontline: Ghosts of Rwanda

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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.

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.

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.

Dallaire was a tragic hero, totally deserted, who blames himself for being deserted. Mbaye Diagne was a hero, a martyr for peace, and a Muslim not often mentioned these days. Too few people know these heros' names, or what they did, in spite of being hung out to dry by the UN.

But, the world gave Kofi a Nobel Prize for Peace, and that is the very definition of injustice. The UN/World Community/US acted shamefully.

View it along with reading Dallaire's book "Shake Hands with the Devil", as well as David Rieff's book, "A Bed for the Night: Humanitarianism in Crisis."

These men saved what lives they could, in spite of the rest of the world, including all of us not there, telling them not to do it, or at least, tolerating leaders who were telling them not to do it.

What is happening in Darfur today is linked to what happened in Rwanda, as well as Somalia before that. The necessity of AU Peacekeeping forces should be a slap in the face of the world community/UN. It's an acknowledgement of the failure of UN Peacekpeeing. It is Africa showing us that the UN is a joke, that Africa knows it is on its own. Look at how easily the local warlords have kept any hint of a UN 'Peacekeeping' mission out of Darfur: simply by threatening 'Jihad', by the UN's own idiotic mandate, it is precluded from entering the conflict. Of what possible use is a force that is restricted, by its own mandate, to defend only itself? Logic cries out that is best done in the parking lot at East 44th street, it is not necessary to deploy half way around the world to rudely defend only yourself in front of innocents desperately in need of defense!

The UN is the world's official fig leaf excuse for endlessly doing everything possible short of actually doing anything.

Shame on us all, shame on the UN. It's not just "Who are these idiots?" but "Who are the idiots who tolerate these idoits?"

That is us. not the heros at the pointy end of the stick, like Dallaire, who pay the price for our tolerance of idiots.

This piece is a damning indictment of the UN/ThirdWay.

Very interesting documentary film but somehow too focused on the role of the US in the non-intervention in Rwanda. The same account of Belgium and France's roles would have made the movie more balanced internationally and more accurate.
However the interviews of the actors in the genocide are very powerfull, especially of Kofi Annan, Madeleine Albright and Phillipe Gaillard (International Committee of the Red Cross).
A must see to get the background picture of the genocide. A good starter before watching Hotel Rwanda or Sometimes in April.

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.

This is definitely one of the best made and emotionally devastating documentaries Frontline has ever made. Don't let the word "devastating" keep you from watching - it's absolutely fascinating and necessary viewing for anyone concerned about preventing the dark, genocidal elements of humanity from prevailing in their attempts to wipe out entire populations of people. I also recommend a Canadian documentary on the same topic called SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL. And, of course, there's also the riveting narrative film HOTEL RWANDA.

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...

I use this film along with the movie Hotel Rwanda in my World Geography classes. It helps students to understand that genocide is not limited to events of the past. It offers a great springboard for discussion about world news events today and the responsibilities of world governments. It is very well done and always garners a strong reaction from young people.

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.