During the time I lived in San Francisco, one of my roomates doing his undergraduate studies read a powerfool book about the tragedy in Rwanda. This modern tribal warfare had lots of root causes, almost none based on logic, but ended up with the genocide of almost a million people. As this story continues to fill people’s hearts and minds, it’s no wonder that a documentary and a feature film came out in the last year.

Hotel Rwanda, starring Don Cheadlae, is but a small fraction of that story but one that can illuminate how strident that portion of history was for people in Rwanda. Like Schindler’s List, it is a story of how one person can truly make a difference to thousands of people. Unlike Schidler’s List, the film was in color. But the message and the inspiration is there, as well as a outsider’s insight into western civilization’s involvement with other countries. It’s a heavy, emotional movie but well worth the time and thought.