A story that needs to be told

An African Schindler’s List. That’s what Director Raoul Peck’s Sometimes in April is. And like all films about genocides – this time in Rwanda – this one is raw, gritty and in-your-face. If it were a person, the HBO original would mince no words. If it were a music genre, it would have all the sound and fury of metal rock.

It’s just as well. For how can you romanticize a story about schoolchildren getting shot without mercy, people dying in swamps or families getting torn apart?

You cannot. And you should not. In fact, you’re better off by letting the world know about it – warts and all.

Peck, his journalism and photography background and a long list of award-winning socio-political documentaries behind him, is the right man for the job. A Haitian, Peck knows Third World concerns like the back of his hand. A passion for human rights makes his credentials for doing Sometimes in April above board.

Did that mean he’d jump at the HBO proposal for him to do a film about genocide? No. No way will he make a film tackling such a sensitive topic without looking at it from all angles.

Besides, he didn’t want to do another heavy African story after doing Lumumba, another HBO film.

"I asked to go to Rwanda, see the people, talk with them, and find out for myself," he recalls.

Peck knew the answer as early as Day Two of his stay in Rwanda. He knew the story had to be told. The story of how almost one million people were butchered in a period of 100 days was begging to be told on screen for the world to know.

The time: April, 1994 (hence the title Sometimes in April). The take-off point: the death of the Rwandan and Burundian presidents after the plane they were both in was shot down. Hutu extremists were believed to be behind the attack. Enraged, Hutus launched a campaign to purge their Tutsi countrymen in a genocide that showed man’s inhumanity to man.

From the outset, Peck knew what his duty was, and where his responsibility lay. This film, he concluded, is not just about genocide. It’s also about human rights.

"I had to make sure I would be able to look my people in the eyes after making this movie," he adds.

Peck had no problem getting support from the Rwandan government which opened its doors wide after learning he is the same guy behind the highly-successful Lumumba.

Rwandan actors jumped at the chance to dramatize their story before the world. An actress, overcome by emotion, broke down. But in the same breath, she urged Peck to go on do take after take.

The movie transported her and her colleagues back to 1994, a year of so much pain and anguish. And yet, they didn’t want to stop.

When Peck ordered "Cut!", they told their director, "No, let’s do another take. Don’t worry, we’ll have time to cry. The world has to know this story."

And so, tomorrow night at 10, HBO will air their story, for everyone to see and judge for himself.

Sometimes in April is not just the story of the people of Rwanda. It’s also the story of anyone who has looked at oppression in the eye and lived to tell his story of pain and woe. It’s a story of utter cruelty, allright. But it had better be told right here, right now. Lest we forget.