Concordia: Monday October 31, 2005
Being Osama and Shake Hands with the Devil
Being Osama is an intimate exploration of six men with highly diverse backgrounds, interests and personalities, united by their first names and their experiences as Arabs living in Canada in the post-9/11 world. Shot against the cultural backdrop of Montreal, the film follows the six Osamas from the time of the American invasion of Iraq in March of 2003 to the anti-WTO demonstrations in late July of the same year. Touching on subjects as diverse as Arab names, rock-n-roll, religion, Middle East politics, weddings, funerals and the meaning of identity, Being Osama is a sensitive and thoughtful portrait of six unique individuals and of the new Canada in which they live.
2004/Canada/45min
Directed by: Mahmoud Kaabour, Tim Schwab
Written by: Mahmoud Kaabour
Produced by: Diversus Inc.
SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL (9 PM in Room H-110)
In 100 days - between April 6 and July 16, 1994 - an estimated 800,000 men, women and children were brutally killed in the obscure African country of Rwanda. The victims - many horrifically hacked to death with machetes - were Tutsi, and moderate Hutus who supported them.
One man was tasked by the United Nations with ensuring that peace was maintained in Rwanda - Canadian Lieutenant General Roméo Dallaire. But unsupported by U.N. headquarters and its Security Council far away in New York, Dallaire and his handful of soldiers were incapable of stopping the genocide.
After ten years of mental torture, reliving the horrors daily and more than once attempting suicide, Roméo Dallaire has poured out his soul in an extraordinary book. Shake Hands With The Devil is a cri de coeur. The General pulls no punches in his condemnation of top UN officials, expedient Belgian policy makers and senior members of the Clinton administration who chose to do nothing as Dallaire pleaded for reinforcements and revised rules of engagement.
Dallaire is convinced that, with a few thousand more troops and a mandate to act pre-emptively, he could have stopped the killings. His impotence, at a time of extreme crisis, preys on his conscience still.
The experienced Canadian documentary production company, White Pine Pictures, secured the documentary rights to General Dallaire’s book and exclusive access to follow him during his first return trip to Rwanda, in April 2004 - the 10th anniversary of the genocide. We were there as he revisited the killing fields that haunt him.
Shake Hands With The Devil is the most powerful documentary produced about the Rwandan genocide. Unflinching. Gut-wrenching. Challenging. Hard-hitting. This is appointment television for viewers throughout the world who care about human rights and international justice.
SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL is co-presented by the Concordia History Department and the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies as part of the Canada and Darfur Conference. Romeo Dollaire will speak the followind day of this screening (time and place TBC)
2004/Canada/91min
Directed by: Peter Raymont
Based in part on the book: Shake Hands with the Devil, by
(Ret.) Lt. General Romeo Dallaire with Brent Beardsley
Edited by: John Westheuser
Sound Recording: Ao Loo
Original Music: Mark Korvean
Produced by: Peter Raymont, Lidalee Tracey
Official Site - Being Osama
Official Site - Shake Hands with the Devil
7:30pm - Being Osama, 9pm - Shake Hands with the Devil
Room H-110, 1455 de Maisonneuve
Admission Free
Co-director of BEING OSAMA Tim Schwab and
guests will be present for a brief Q & A following film
SHAKE HANDS film subject and co-writer Romeo Dollaire will
speak at Concordia on November 1 as part of the Canada and the Darfur Crisis Conference.
On 1 November 2005, MIGS, the Concordia Student Union, the Office of the President of Concordia University, the Faculty of Arts & Science, and other Concordia University sponsors will host a one day conference on the Darfur situation for students from Concordia and other universities, as well as the interested public. Lt.-Gen. Roméo A. Dallaire (Ret.) will present the keynote address in the opening morning session on Darfur, the African Union and the responsibility to protect. Expert panels will be presented on the following topics: the background to the Darfur crisis; the role of the Canadian media in alerting Canadians to ongoing crimes against humanity in Darfur; the options available to resolve the Darfur crisis; and Canadian student opportunities for urging solutions to the problems in Sudan. Analysts from the Dept. of National Defence, university researchers, editors, and student leaders will make panel presentations. The conference is free and will take place at Concordia University’s downtown Montreal Sir George Williams campus. The public is invited.
Date: Tuesday, 1 November 2005
Time: 9h00 to 18h00
Place: Room H-110, the Hall Building, Concordia University,
1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W.
For more info, visit: