Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12015 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-07-31
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 110 minutes

DVD Description
Joe Connor (Hugh Dancy) is teaching in Rwanda during his gap year. When the school he teaches at becomes a haven for thousands of Rwandans fleeing the genocide, Joe promises his brightest pupil, Marie (Clare-Hope Ashitey), that the UN soldiers will protect her from the hordes of extremist militia baying for blood outside the school. But when the UN abandon the refugees, Joe and the school’s headmaster, Father Christopher (John Hurt), face an agonising dilemma: should they leave or should they stand firm with the Rwandans. As the UN trucks force their way through the terrified refugees, Joe stares at the tear-stained face of Marie: what should he do?

Based on real events and filmed at the actual location where this story took place, SHOOTING DOGS is an emotionally gripping, authentic and powerful recreation of a tragic real life story that took place during the Rwandan genocide in 1994.

Synopsis
An English priest working at a school in Rwanda in 1994 is drawn up in the violence caused when tension between Tutsi and Hutu tribes escalates into genocide. Based on a story co-written by BBC journalist David Belton--who was working in the country at the time of the genocide--SHOOTING DOGS is an intense and powerful fictionalised account of events that took place at the Ecole Technique Officielle school in Kigali between April 6th and April 11th in 1994. The film shows the experiences of the world-weary school headmaster Father Christopher (John Hurt) and Joe Connor (Hugh Dancy), a charismatic and idealistic young man taking a year out teaching in Africa. When the genocide begins to erupt, the school becomes a refuge for Europeans and Tutsis. A contingent of Belgian UN soldiers is stationed at the school but as the Hutu government vows to eliminate all Tutsis, the refugees wonder if the UN will protect them from the machete-wielding Hutu militias who start to surround the school. In order to give the film a realistic look, director Michael Canton-Jones elicits naturalistic performances from the actors, some of whom are survivors of the genocide. The film was shot largely with handheld cameras in order to give a documentary feel to the story and SHOOTING DOGS was filmed at the school caught up in the genocide. John Hurt and Hugh Dancy give strong, emotional performances as characters caught up in a series of moral dilemmas as to how they can help the Tutsis. By focusing on the fate of one school, this accomplished film succeeds in giving an overview of the Rwandan conflict and the inertia of various governments and organisations in dealing with the violence.

Andy Jacobs - BBC
John Hurts character is the heart and soul of an unusually thoughtful film.

Customer Reviews

Amazing
I highly recommend this film which is probably less well known than 'Hotel Rwanda', but which is no less powerful. From the moment the film started I was involved in the film. Hugh Dancy is brilliant as a idealistic young teacher and John Hurt turns in a elegant and understated performance as a catholic priest. Towards the end he utters one of the most powerful and moving lines of the film when faced with one of the Hutu killers. This is a very emotional film and be prepared to be in tears by the end of the movie. It highlights the important role, or lack of, of the UN and Western powers in preventing the genocide in Rwanda. It is hard to believe that it was only 12 years ago.

The most powerful account of the 1994 genocide on film
Hotel Rwanda is the Hollywood attempt at the account of the genocide in which 800,000 Rwandans were killed in less than 3 months. In comparison, Shooting Dogs is a more comprehensive and emotionally involving account of the tradegy.

John Hurt is superb in his role as the Priest and headteacher of a school that hides Tutsis from Hutu extremists. The constraint of the UN peacekeepers in their role at the school and the response by the international is also played out accurately.

The most touching aspect of the film perhaps is the role of the survivors in making the film and the credits inform of the loses they suffered.

Rwanda, like East Timor and Cambodia has failed to get the public attention that the Holocaust has received and films like Shooting Dogs are deserved attempts to bring the tradegy home.

The film has not failed to reduce friends and family to tears, one of the most powerful films released in recent times albeit to low publicity.

To get a deeper understanding about the genocide I recommend Shake Hands With The Devil.

Superb account, a must watch.
Having spent time out in Rwanda in 2004, the recent films about the genocide (Hotel Rwanda and Shooting Dogs) have been a must watch for me, and they haven't disappointed. Shooting dogs is a graphic and emotional account of the genocide that is made all the more real by being filmed in Rwanda - filmed in actual places some of the atrocities happened. It is just a must watch, and although there have been controversies about the filming of the movie on location in Rwanda (ie Rwandans reliving the horrors of the genocide - hearing gunshots whilst filming, stirring up the divide between Tutsi and Hutu), it adds an extra something that Hotel Rwanda just doesn't have.

This is an excellent film that should be seen by all. We need to learn from our mistakes, and the UN should consider buying a copy of this for all their members!