Re-Membering the Tutsi Genocide in Hotel Rwanda (2004): Implications for Peace and Reconciliation

This article examines how Hotel Rwanda participates in memory construction and the challenges of adapting Rwandan genocide history to the screen through individual memory. I use contemporary literaturelfilm adaptation theories, especially, "transtextuality" as articulated by film scholars Thomas Leitch and Kamilla Elliot, to evaluate the "based on a true story" trademark of the film to establish its truth claims, as well as the intertextual collage between the film and Rusesabagina's (auto)biography, An Ordinary Man: The True Story behind Hotel Rwanda (2007). The article examines the validity of Rusesabagina's claims against testimonies of Mille Collines survivors in order to establish the role of artistic license in memory construction and its impact on truth. Finally, I examine the political controversies surrounding the film and conclude that in spite of its powerful creation of awareness about the Tutsi genocide, Hotel Rwanda contributes to postgenocide conflict and even undermines justice, peace, and reconciliation.