AMES, Iowa - An upcoming movie and lecture hosted by Iowa State University tell a tale of heroism and bravery during the Rwandan genocide in 1994. The events are free and open to the public.
The movie "Hotel Rwanda" depicts the real-life story of hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina and his efforts to save more than a thousand countrymen during the slaying of close to a million ethnic minority Tutsis. The movie will be shown at 7 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 16 in the Sun Room, Memorial Union. Award-winning actor Don Cheadle stars as the caring Rusesabagina who risks his family's safety to help others by opening the doors of the five-star hotel he managed.
Ten days later, the real Rusesabagina will present a lecture at 8 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 26 in the Great Hall, Memorial Union, to recount his first-hand experiences. Born in Rwanda in 1954, Rusesabagina entered missionary school at the age of 8 and later entered the hotel and catering industry. He was manager of the Milles Collines hotel at the start of the Rwanda crises.
The movie and lecture are part of the 2005-06 World Affairs Series that's funded by Government of the Student Body and cosponsored by the departments of women's studies, political science, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Miller Fund, Student Union Board, Bioethics Program and the George Gund Fund
Other lectures in the World Affairs Series are:
- "Global Justice and Human Rights" by Glyn T. Davies at 8 p.m., Oct. 25 in the Sun Room, Memorial Union. Davies is acting assistant secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor in the State Department.
- "The Future of Rwanda" by Romain Murenzi at noon, Oct. 28 in the Campanile Room, Memorial Union. Murenzi is the Minister of Education, Science, Technology and Scientific Research for the republic of Rwanda, and he will be discussing government policies and development initiatives in education and technology.
- "Global Justice and Human Rights: An Environmental Perspective" by Vandana Shiva at 8 p.m. Oct. 31 in the Sun Room, Memorial Union. Shiva is a world-renowned environmental leader and thinker and director of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Natural Resource Policy in India.
- "Global Justice and Human Rights" by Noam Chomsky at 8 p.m., April 11, 2006, in the Great Hall, Memorial Union. Chomsky is on faculty in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He held the Ferrari P. Ward Professorship of Modern Languages and Linguistics, and was appointed Institute Professor.
- "International War Crimes Tribunal in Rwanda" by Stephen Rapp at 8 p.m. April 12, 2006 in the Sun Room, Memorial Union. Rapp, a former U.S. attorney in Iowa, has spent the last four years rounding up and prosecuting suspects in the 1994 Rwandan genocide that left 800,000 dead.