Today's story begins with an Oscar-winning photo.
In 2005, at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles, USA, at the 77th Academy Awards, American actor Don Chandel appeared in the theater hall in the role of "Hotel Rwanda".
The scene of the 77th Academy Awards
With the role of hotel manager Paul, Don Chandel was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor that year.
The role of Paul, played by Don Chandel, appeared at the Oscars
Despite eventually losing to Jamie Fox of Soul King, the scene at the Kodak Theater became the highlight of Chandel's career as an actor.
"Hotel Rwanda" Don Chandel eventually lost to Jamie Fox of "The King of Souls"
However, Don Chandel could never have imagined that he had suffered an unprecedented reversal, and that this reversal would take place 16 years later.
The character he played in the film, Paul, was eventually found to be a terrorist and had financed numerous terrorist acts against civilians.
Don Chandel could not have imagined that his role would be reversed 16 years later
The time cuts back to Kigali, rwanda's capital, 16 years later.
On September 20, the local court made an important ruling:
Paul Ruse Sabbajina, 67, is convicted of 13 counts of participating in a terrorist organization and financing the massacre of civilians and will serve a sentence in Rwanda.
This Paul Ruse Sabbagina is the prototype for the male protagonist of the movie Hotel Rwanda.
By this time he had been in a Rwandan prison for a full year.
Paul Ruse Sabbagina is the prototype for the male protagonist of the movie Hotel Rwanda
No one had thought of such a super reversal.
When "Hotel Rwanda" was released that year, because it was the first film to reflect the Rwandan massacre, it was mentioned as the same status as another holocaust-themed film, "Schindler's List", which was widely acclaimed in the European and American film circles.
"Hotel Rwanda" was comparable to another masterpiece, "Schindler's List"
The Western media did not hesitate to praise the film:
When the New York Times reviewed the film, it used four words as its headline— "The Light of Humanity."
Time magazine spoke highly of the male protagonist Paul: "Paul single-handedly made the Miller Collins Hotel the only bright color in hell on earth." ”
The famous film critic magazine "Movie Review" even named "Hotel Rwanda" as one of the 100 high-scoring movies that must be seen in life.
Domestically, "Hotel Rwanda" has a high rating of 8.9 points.
"Hotel Rwanda" Douban score is as high as 8.9
The film's archetypal character, Paul Ruse Sabbagina, also became a popular figure in the media for a while, making headlines every day and talking in front of the TV camera.
Paul Ruse Sabbagina was close to don Chandel, the American actor who played him
However, rwanda, the site of the massacre depicted in the film, was widely questioned as soon as it was released. Many of the holocaust victims of that year angrily accused Hollywood of completely ignoring the facts and reversing black and white for the sake of film effect.
Paul was portrayed by Hollywood screenwriters in "Hotel Rwanda" as an image full of great human brilliance
The focus of the question is the film prototype Paul Ruse Sabbagina, who became the biggest target:
1. Paul completely took the 1268 refugees in the hotel as hostages, colluding with the leaders of the Hutu armed forces to exchange these refugees with the captured Hutu officers.
2. During his hotel refuge, Paul imposes a fee on each refugee and threatens the Tutsi refugees who have no money to drive them out of the hotel to fend for themselves.
3. Paul himself has been involved in terrorist organizations and has even provided financial support to these terrorist organizations, which have organized numerous terrorist acts against Rwandan civilians.
Paul's role in "Hotel Rwanda" has been widely questioned
However, in the context of the Western film industry's identification of "Hotel Rwanda" as the light of humanity, these doubts soon disappeared.
With the patronage of the Western Film Organization, Paul Ruse Sabbagina emigrated to Europe and continued to enjoy all kinds of glory and wealth as a national hero of Rwanda.
In 2005, then-U.S. President George W. Bush W. Bush even invited Paul to the United States and personally awarded him the "Presidential Medal", which represents the highest honor of American civilians: You showed extraordinary courage and morality of human beings in the face of the Holocaust! ”。
At that moment, Paul, a 51-year-old Rwandan, reached the peak of his life experience.
U.S. President George W. Bush Personally Presents Paul with the Presidential Medal
The big change came exactly 10 years after the release of Hotel Rwanda.
In 2014, Nina Bell, a well-known American writer, published a groundbreaking article in the Huffington Post:
"The national hero portrayed in 'Hotel Rwanda' is nothing more than a hypocritical liar crafted by Hollywood's inferior screenwriters!"
The US media revealed that "Hotel Rwanda" portrayed a hypocritical liar
The article cites a wealth of evidence revealing Paul Ruse Sabbagina's true performance in the Rwandan genocide, slamming Hollywood for deliberately exaggerating or even fabricating Paul's heroic deeds in order to achieve film effect and box office revenue.
"The so-called human brilliance in him is just a layer of golden light forcibly plated by the giants of the film industry."
Nina Bell's report became a breakthrough, and the European and American media followed up with reports: how high Paul was originally raised, and now how low he is.
In 2020, things changed dramatically: Paul Ruse Sabbagina was arrested!
Rwanda's National Bureau of Investigation published a photo of Paul's arrest on social media accounts, announcing that the prototype of the "Hotel Rwanda" movie, accused of 13 counts including financing terrorist organizations, has entered judicial proceedings in Rwanda.
Rwanda's National Bureau of Investigation released a photo of Paul's arrest
No one knows how the Rwandan Hutu, who has dual Belgian and American citizenship, was arrested.
Some say Paul was arrested in Dubai, UAE, because he had many business projects there;
It is also said that he was arrested in Addis Ababa, ethiopia, because it was the base camp of a political organization in which he participated.
But in the end, no country came forward to admit to participating in the extradition of Paul.
Rwanda's current president, Paul Kagame, has long accused Paul of colluding with the American film industry, fabricating his own heroic experiences, and participating in terrorist organizations to threaten national security.
It is worth mentioning that Paul Kagame is the commander-in-chief of the Patriotic Front Armed Forces at the end of the film, who led the troops to defeat the Hutu government forces and end the Rwandan genocide, when he was 37 years old.
Rwanda's current president, Paul Kagame, has always opposed the characterization of Paul at the Hotel Rwanda as an insult to Rwanda.
After the arrest of Paul Russe Sabbagina, the European and American film scenes fell silent, and no one came out to speak for him.
Only Don Chandel, who played him in the film, issued a simple statement:
"Hopefully Paul will be treated fairly."