The Story of an Unlikely Hero in a Modern Genocide
by SHEILA DICHOSO, staff writer
“I think if people will see this footage they’ll say, ‘oh my god, that’s horrible,’ and go on eating their dinner.”The place is Kigali, Rwanda. The year is 1994. 800,000 people have been killed, and the world does nothing.
1994 marked the year when America, along with the rest of the world, turned their back away on Rwanda. With no help from Western Powers and insufficient coverage from the media, few people knew at the time that genocide was occurring right under their noses.
The United Nations finally addressed the warfare between the Hutus and Tutsis in May 1994, yet about 500,000 Rwandans had already been killed, and the genocide was described using the less-brutal term “acts of genocide.” They claimed that a real “genocide” could not be confirmed. This gave a free pass for people to shun away from it. Eleven years later, the virtually unnoticed story has finally surfaced in the poignant and powerful film "Hotel Rwanda."
DVD Review - "Jologs"
A quirky, non-linear narrative with ethnic Filipino flair
by KATHERINE PARADERO, staff writer
The movie opens, and about midway, you are convinced that you too can keep track of all eleven characters whose stories are inextricably woven together by Ned Trespeces’ screenplay. Gilbert G. Perez directs a young and lively ensemble cast in his 2003 contribution to the comedy-drama-slice-of-life genre.The movie’s circular plot gives purpose to the story, as each retelling opens from a different point of view of the same set of events, effectively coloring the shared experiences of these characters with what at times does feel like the actual emotional substance of life.
