| BEYOND THE GATES |
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| © 2007 by C.E. Murphy. All Rights Reserved. |
| L to R: Hugh Dancy as Joe Connor and John Hurt as Father Christopher in BEYOND THE GATES An IFC Films release. |
films that are set in Africa. In the last several
years, we've seen a number of features and
television productions set on that turbulent
continent. Some people have complained that
many of these projects use Caucasian figures as
a means to allow the audience "in" to the story.
Undoubtedly there is some truth to that, but if
in the long run the films manage to get people,
particularly those in the United States, to think
about what has occurred and what continues to
occur in African nations, then perhaps that is
not such a bad thing.
BEYOND THE GATES (which was released
under the title SHOOTING DOGS in the United
Kingdom) is set in Rwanda in 1994 on the eve of
that country's bloody civil war. When it was
released in England, the film drew comparisons
with HOTEL RWANDA to which it does bear
some resemblance. Both movies are based on
real-life events, although HOTEL RWANDA at
least had an African as its hero. In both
features, the United Nations forces come off
badly.
Shot on the location where the events unfolded,
BEYOND THE GATES is set at the École
Technique Officielle (ETO) in Kilgali. In Rwanda,
the native population fell into two somewhat
arbitrarily defined distinctions: one was either a
Hutu or a Tutsi. As the former gained power, the
latter became the target for death.