Beyond the Gates - the World Was Silent
Last night I watched one of the most powerful films I have seen in a few years: Beyond the Gates, which was filmed in Kigali, Rwanda. It is based on true events that occurred at the Ecole Technique Officielle (ETO), a Catholic secondary school, in April of 1994.
What will you risk to make a difference?
In 100 days during April - June of 1994, 800,000 Rwandans were killed by their fellow countrymen, victims of a genocide. At the ETO, 2500 Tutsis took refuge along with 40 Europeans. Maintaining a fragile barrier between the Tutsis and the Hutu tribesmen who were on a murderous rampage was a Belgian military contingent tasked by the United Nations to “monitor the peace.”
This story, told from the perspective of a Catholic priest (Fr. Christopher, played by John Hurt) and a young British schoolteacher (Joe Connor, played by Hugh Dancy), asks a compelling question: What would you risk to make a difference? Even beyond that, the question becomes: What is more futile? Staying to lose your life or escaping to live the rest of your life, knowing you fled? These are complex questions with complex answers, ones that aren’t arrived at easily.
Personally, the most riveting scene occurs toward the end of the film when Fr. Christopher speaks to Joe’s question about God’s part in all of this. “Where is God in everything that is happening here? I know exactly where he is. He’s right here suffering with these people. His love is here. More intense and profound than I have ever felt. My heart is here. My soul. If I leave, I think I may not find it again.” Fr. Christopher’s decision to stay exemplifies the Scripture that tells us “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)
The story was developed by BBC journalist David Belton (whom I hope to interview later this week) who was in Rwanda in May of 1994. One of the most horrifying scenes in the film was based on something he witnessed at a roadblock. He has been criticized for telling an African story from a European perspective, but I believe it’s the most honest way for him to tell the story. From this perspective, the film becomes less a graphic re-telling of a horrible period of history and more a question about the reaction, or lack thereof, of the rest of the world.
While Rwandans died by the thousands, the world debated how many deaths must occur before the word “genocide” is used. In a few inserts from a press conference, a woman repeatedly uses the term “acts of genocide,” as though the words used will keep the ugly reality at bay.
Michael Caton-Jones, in an interview about the film, made the following statement: “I can’t change the world, but I can make films. If I can make films that help people view things differently, then great. I have no answers. That’s not my role. My role is to engender conversations. . . when there is something like a genocide that is so patently evil, unfair, and wrong, I think it behooves any human being, any citizen of the world, to make their voice heard about it. Making [this film] was my way of saying something about it. I make no apologies for it.”
I’m left asking myself, “What am I doing about the suffering of others in the world? Is my faith making a difference in the lives of those around me? How am I making my voice heard?”
For other perspectives on this part of Rwandan history, see Hotel Rwanda and Rwanda: Living Forgiveness.
