| View Larger Image | Sometimes in April | DVDStarring: Idris Elba, Carole Karemera, Pamela Nomvete, Oris Erhuero, Fraser James
Directed By: Raoul Peck
Also With: Eric Guichard (Cinematographer), Raoul Peck (Producer), Raoul Peck (Writer), Jacques Comets (Editor), Daniel Delume (Producer), Joel Stillerman (Producer), Kisha Imani Cameron (Producer)
| List Price: | $9.98 | | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| | Binding: | DVD | | Rating: |  | | Run Time: | 140 minutes | | Format: | AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC | | Studio: | HBO Home Video | | Number of Discs: | 1 | | Aspect Ratio: | 1.66:1 | | Release Date: | May 10, 2005 | | Sales Rank: | 11,959th |
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FEATURES | - (Drama) 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, an estimated 800,000 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
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Description
(Drama) 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, an estimated 800,000 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.DVD Features:Audio CommentaryFeaturettePhoto gallery |
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A clear-eyed look at the Rwandan genocide is offered in Sometimes in April, a frank take on the 1994 slaughter that claimed upwards of 800,000 lives. Some overlap with Hotel Rwanda is inevitable, and this HBO feature does have similarities, but without the strong suspenseful storyline of Hotel. Its protagonist (the strong Idris Elba, from The Wire) pieces together the past tragedy from the perspective of a decade-later war-crimes tribunal, where his brother is on trial. It's hard to know which is less bearable--the depiction of atrocities, such as mass murder at a girls school, or the second-guessing of the international community, which largely stood by while the horror was unfolding. (Like Hotel Rwanda, this film zeroes in on the U.S. government's distinction that "acts of genocide" occurred in Rwanda rather than "genocide," a Joseph Heller-like absurdity.) The plain style of director Raoul Peck, shooting on location in Rwanda, works for the subject; his film Lumumba was also a direct, blunt account of a tragedy in Africa. The approach doesn't work as well in the U.S. scenes, which feature Debra Winger as a concerned official; these just look clumsy. But the subject itself remains worthy of close attention. --Robert Horton |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 57 reviews)
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sometimes in april by Michael Davis  5 Stars
October 26, 2009
its better than hotel rwanda and other movies about the genocide and worth the time to watch
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Rwanda but not Hotel Rwanda by Ken Forden 5 Stars
September 12, 2009
This is a great complimentary film on Rwanda. We have all seen the PBS documentaries and many have seen Hotel Rwanda, this is yet another view. This is not loaded with atrocities to view but they are described and you feel it. It gives us yet another view and better understanding than some of the previous material on the subject. If this is a subject you are interested in then this will be a good film for you.
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Sometimes In April by L. Stroup (Pennsylvania, USA) 5 Stars
July 18, 2009
This is a wonderful movie, the events are depicted very well! I grew up in The Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire during the genocide), right across the border from where this happened. It's a touching story that helps bring life back into perspective.
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Better than Hotel Rwanda by Robert J. Robinson (Magalia, Calif) 5 Stars
June 16, 2009
I saw this film on HBO and was stunned by the reality of the genocide being portrayed while showing that the world and the U.N. did practically nothing to stop 800,000 people from being murdered. Hotel Rwanda was basically a drama where this film is a story of life and death during the mid 1990's where one tribe tries to erase another. The irony of the whole tragedy was that a generation ago, they were the same tribe. Watch it twice.
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How can we let this happen again? by Nisaa Kitt (Green Bay, WI) 5 Stars
March 31, 2009
In the early 1900's its the Armenians, In the late 30's and early 40's its the Jewish people, also Australian half cast children ripped from their mother's arms (see Rabbit Proof Fence), and then Rwanda. It just makes you cry. Cry for the people, the victims - cry for the survivors, cry for us because political boundaries told us we cannot do anything to help. How can one nation, any nation stand by and allow this to happen? Why won't anyone step in and save Darfur region?
This movie beat out Hotel Rwanda in my opinion - however, That was good too.
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SIMILAR PRODUCTS |
| Frontline: Ghosts of Rwanda
FRONTLINE marks the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide with a documentary chronicling one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century. In addition to interviews with key government officials and diplomats, the two-hour documentary offers eyewitness accounts of the genocide from those who experienced it firsthand. FRONTLINE illustrates the failures that enabled the slaughter of 800,000 people to occur unchallenged by the global community.
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| Hotel Rwanda
Starring: Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Joaquin Phoenix, Xolani Mali, Desmond Dube
Directed By: Terry George
Also With: Terry George (Writer), A. Kitman Ho (Producer), Bridget Pickering (Producer), Duncan Reid (Producer), Francesco Melzi d'Eril (Producer), Hal Sadoff (Producer), Keir Pearson (Writer)
Once you find out what happened in Rwanda, you'll never forget. OscarÂ(r) nominee* Don Cheadle (Traffic) gives "the performance of his career in this extraordinarily powerful" (The Hollywood Reporter) and moving true story of one man's brave stance against savagery during the 1994 Rwandan conflict. Sophie Okonedo (Dirty Pretty Things) co-stars as the loving wife who challenges a good man to become a great man. As his country descends into madness, five-star-hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina...
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| Beyond the Gates
Starring: John Hurt, Hugh Dancy, Dominique Horwitz, Louis Mahoney, Nicola Walker
Directed By: Michael Caton-Jones
Based on true events during the Rwandan genocide in 1994, an exhausted Catholic priest (John Hurt) and a young idealistic English teacher (Hugh Dancy) find themselves caught in a literal and spiritual crisis. They have to choose whether to stay with the thousands of Tutsis about to be massacred or to flee for safety.
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| The Diary of Immaculee
Directed By: Peter LeDonne
Immaculée Ilibagiza grew up in a country she loved, surrounded by a family she cherished. But in 1994 her idyllic world was ripped apart as Rwanda descended into a bloody genocide. Her family was brutally murdered during a killing spree that lasted three months and claimed the lives of nearly a million Rwandans. Miraculously, Immaculée survived the slaughter. For 91 days, she and seven other women huddled silently together in the cramped bathroom of a local pastor's home while...
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| Lumumba
Starring: Eriq Ebouaney, Alex Descas, Théophile Sowié, Maka Kotto, Dieudonné Kabongo
Directed By: Raoul Peck
Also With: Raoul Peck (Writer), Arlette Zylberberg (Producer), Diana Elbaum (Producer), Georges Goldenstern (Producer), Jacques Bidou (Producer), Dan Edelstein (Writer), Pascal Bonitzer (Writer)
Made in the tradition of such true-life political thrillers as MALCOLM X and JFK, Raoul Peck's award-winning LUMUMBA is a gripping epic that dramatizes for the first time the rise and fall of legendary African leader Patrice Lumumba. When the Congo declared its independence from Belgium in 1960, the 36-year-old, self-educated Lumumba became the first Prime Minister of the newly independent state. Called "the politico of the bush" by journalists of the day, he became a lightning rod of Cold War...
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