The 600 Film

Why “The 600” is free to watch here! (except North America)

Richard Hall — Fri, 08 Apr 2022 15:02:54 +0000

On the 28th Anniversary of The 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, I have decided to make “The 600” free to view here to anyone outside of North America. This film was made to honor and keep memories alive. When a film comes out, most distributors look only at its commercial value and no distributor felt they could profit off it. While it would have been nice to recoup the cost of the making the movie, the real purpose was education, enlightenment, inspiration. No one helped me make this film, I did it out of a sense of commitment to keeping the historical record straight. It belongs to the world and Rwanda and the Rescuers and Survivors and those who were tragically lost. “The 600” is now all of yours. The North American exception is because it is readily available there on Amazon Prime, iTunes, Vudu and On Demand cable services. Please watch.

“The 600” is available in Europe! Why Now??

Richard Hall — Sun, 07 Mar 2021 21:01:33 +0000

Okay, it’s coincidental, but totally appropriate, that a worldwide release of the documentary “The 600” that includes Europe on MyMoviesAfrica

https://www.mymovies.africa/view/70ea6321a553b5b6

is taking place at the same time as the trial of Paul Rusesabagina, known for the heavily fictionalized movie “Hotel Rwanda”. The value of telling the story of actual heroes in “The 600” during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi can’t be underestimated. “Hotel Rwanda” didn’t live up to those standards.

“Hotel Rwanda” is a screenwriter’s creation based on real people but dramatized for entertainment. There is undeniable evidence that Rusesabagina was not nearly the hero that is depicted in the film.

See the work of journalist Linda Malvern here about the film’s accuracy:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/nov/17/hotel-rwanda-hollywood-ending

Yet, the pristine image from the movie has filtered the vast majority of coverage in the Western press of the trial, much of which declares without question that Rusesabagina is a hero who fell out of favor. It’s herd journalism, and very lazy. It colors whatever verdict Rusesabagina gets for the charges of terrorism against him in recent times.

One comment from Malvern’s article truly stands out: “Meanwhile, it seems, the righteous stand and heroism of those who did save lives in Rwanda is simply ignored”.

Now that “The 600″ is available more readily in the West (it’s also on Amazon Prime and a host of VOD outlets including iTunes and Vudu in the USA), we can offer a story that is not doctored by screenwriters, but told by survivors and rescuers themselves of true heroism unclouded by commercial interests. Over 90 interviews were conducted over a six month period to track and verify the stories in this film. Only Rwandans tell the story, all of them were there. There are no Western pundits, journalists, historians, or Africa ‘Experts” looking through their dusty prisms. It’s raw and real and I invite Africans in the Diaspora and the European countries that played a role in Rwanda’s history to see it for themselves.

Beyond our wildest dreams – “The 600” journey

Richard Hall — Sat, 18 Jul 2020 01:36:16 +0000

All I can say is “Wow” and “Thank you!”. I was an unlikely person to make this film, just basically a tourist — with Rwandan in-laws — visiting a new museum in Kigali in 2017. I was literally on the steps of the new Campaign Against Genocide Museum on my way out of a very moving museum tour when I told my Rwandan family that it was a shame the story of The 600 wasn’t a film for the world to see. I was overwhelmed not just with the military aspect of the story, but also the emotional aspect. I can’t think of another group of soldiers who had to cope against bigger odds and wrenching emotions and still prevail. Since then, this passion project got supported by dozens of Rwandan researchers, production staff, survivors, RPA veterans, actors, government officials–and a post production staff of American producers who all took a ‘course’ in the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi before helping me put the film together– and made this film happen. “The 600” had a world premiere in Kigali on July 3, 2019, attended by HE Paul Kagame and family, and a sold out 2 week run thereafter at the Century Theater. We then went on to screenings and film festivals in Dakar, Washington DC, London (x 2), Los Angeles (x 3), and New York City until the Coronavirus intervened. And now, we are going worldwide as you can see from the neighboring blog post. “The 600” has now also remarkably become a part of Rwanda’s Hero’s Day and Liberation Day commemorations, and will be a regular staple in Kinyarwanda on RBA TV over the coming years. The film also had the dubious honor of being pirated! So don’t watch that copy, it’s bad for Rwanda’s film business It’s been an amazing ride. But let’s not forget the real takeaway here. 600 men and women were surrounded by tens of thousands of brutal Genocidal forces. They held out, they counter attacked, they sacrificed and along with the RPA’s main force, they ended the Genocide Against the Tutsi and saved thousands of lives in the middle of one of the worst crimes against humanity in history. It was a story very much worth telling, and I couldn’t be more satisfied that it is now available for the world to see. It was an honor to tell it. Richard Hall Executive Producer/Writer

How to see “The 600” worldwide!! UPDATE

Richard Hall — Wed, 15 Jul 2020 10:08:07 +0000

Now available for streaming to all Amazon Prime subscribers in the USA! “The 600” is available primarily as a Video on Demand (VOD) in many places. However, on the list below, there are geographic limitations to North America on the other platforms listed here. If you order the Blu Ray through Amazon, it is Region A which includes North and South America, Japan, Taiwan and other parts of Asia and Southeast Asia. DVD’s are zoned to North America. We are arranging an outlet for parts of Europe, Asia and Australia soon, stand by! Meanwhile, you can order here in the US and Canada: NB: If you don’t live in the USA or Canada, you should be able to access the film via Amazon Prime Video using an American bank or credit card for payment. Plus we have added new countries via VUMI CENTRAL see below.

	iTunes Store, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV	Watch
	Streaming to subscribers in USA. VOD for non subscribers on Internet, Tablets, Smart Phones, Smart TVs, Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Game Consoles, Roku	Watch
	VOD Internet, Tablets, Smart Phones, Game Consoles, Roku, Chromecast	Watch
	VOD Internet, Android Devices, Chromebook, Smart TVs, Roku, Chromecast	Watch
	VOD Internet, Tablets, Smart Phones, Smart TVs, Game Consoles, Roku, Chromecast, Apple TV	Watch
	VOD Internet, Xbox, Microsoft Devices, Windows Tablets, Windows Phones	Watch
	VOD Internet, Tablets, Smart Phones, PlayStation	Watch

If you live in the US or Canada, you can also order Video on Demand (VOD) from these carriers:

	Standard Window Only – Cable (USA)
	Standard Window Only – Cable (USA)
	Cable (USA)
	Satellite (USA)
	Telco (USA)
	Telco (USA)
	Cable (USA)
	Cable (USA)
	Cable (USA)
	Cable (USA)
	Cable (Canada)

DVD and Blu Rays are available through: (with regional limitations listed above)

	The world’s largest internet retailer.	DVD \| Blu-ray
	Distributes to library, brick-and-mortar and internet retailers.	–
	Services retailers such as BestBuy.com, BarnesandNoble.com and Walmart.com	–
	Services libraries across the US and Canada.	–
	Services libraries across Canada.	–

Across Africa, Vumi Central carries “The 600”, and now we’ve added Japan, the UAE and Qatar, where you can watch “The 600” on demand on VUMI. We expect to have more announcements later this year, but hopefully the inspiring message of sacrifice and courage from the film can be shared more widely now. The response has been amazing! Richard Hall Executive Producer

“Hotel Rwanda” debunked by CNLG – see link here

Richard Hall — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 17:39:23 +0000

In previous posts, “The 600” has taken the position that historical accuracy is vital in telling the stories of the Genocide Against the Tutsi in 1994. Those that have not adhered to history, like “Hotel Rwanda” and “Black Earth Rising” have at least muddled history or worse yet, given voice to those who would deny or alter the story to promote the original Genocidal agenda that resulted in the murder of some 900,000 men, women and children in Rwanda in just 100 days. Here’s a link to a recommended article from the National Commission for the Fight Against Genocide (CNLG) in Rwanda. Please read! Download: What really took place at Hotel des Mille Collines during the Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994 – PDF

“The 600” Winning an Award is great…preserving history is even greater (UPDATE)

Richard Hall — Sun, 01 Mar 2020 22:31:43 +0000

“The 600: The Soldiers’ Story” won the award for Best Documentary at The Winter Film Awards Film Festival in New York, which is a great honor for the film and the team that made it. I want to thank the festival also for having a Q & A after the film with some really great discussion with the audience. UPDATE: Laurent Basset and I also won Best Director Documentary Feature at the Golden State Film Festival in Hollywood. At the New York festival, a distributor approached me and basically said the film is too long, at 1 hour 55 minutes, and that if I wanted to get better distribution I’d have to cut it down. First of all, let me apologize to those who have seen the film and had to watch an extra 15-20 minutes than is customary, I guess. I’ll also be the first to say that “The 600” is not an easy film to watch, even with a relatively light touch on the actual horrific violence of The Genocide against the Tutsi. As a filmmaker, wrapping my arms around a subject as vast as The Genocide was the biggest challenge in making a cohesive film of any kind. I narrowed it down to Kigali, the 100 days, The 600 soldiers, with some background and some epilogue, and even that was extraordinarily difficult to do (the first cut over 2 hours, it’s now 1 hour 55 and soon to be 1 hour 50 minutes.) Here’s how the film is organized: –Brief Timeline of Rwandan history from 1959 to 1993 –Brief sketch of the RPA circa 1993 (An Army of Exiles) –RPF/RPA Songs and Radio Muhabura –The Bus Ride of the 600 to Kigali –The President’s Plane Crash –The Start of the Genocide –Nyamirambo/Yvonne’s story/militia roadblocks –St Andre civilian massacres –Counterattacks by The 600 –The Gun on the Roof of the CND –Reinforcements/Mt Rebero –Fighting in the middle of a Genocide –Nyamirambo Part 2, Theogene’s Rescue –St Andre Part 2, RPA rescue –Amahoro Stadium and the UN’s indifference –St Paul’s rescue –Liberation Day –One Soldiers’ Story (of family lost and found) –Epilogue Truly most of these beats could be it’s own documentary, and yet so much is overlooked even trying to tell these stories. For instance, I could cut 7 minutes out of the film for the distributors if I didn’t include Amahoro Stadium’s rescue, but then how Rwandans saw the retreat of the UN wouldn’t be in the film at all (as expressed so eloquently by Pastor Antoine). That’s practically the #1 question I got asked about at the private screenings at The Shoah Foundation and the Hollywood and New York festivals, partly because the only other reference point so many Americans have is the film ‘Hotel Rwanda’, and from what audiences are saying to me here, they realize that there are serious historical flaws in “Hotel Rwanda” (see previous blog post). I also feel that each of the main rescue stories of St. Andre, St. Paul and Nyamirambo are too important to cut out, and demonstrate the relationship between the RPA soldiers and the civilians they saved. So, cutting down the film either minimizes the stories of the survivors and victims, or it undercuts the daunting task the RPA had fighting against tremendous deadly odds and emotional stress. You really can’t tell the story without both the civilians and the soldiers combined. And that’s really the purpose of “The 600”. It’s a historical record that’s so important to tell, and it is a privilege to tell it. So, it may not have great commercial upside because it may not appear to be consumable to broadcasters or platforms due to its subject matter and it’s length. But the story comes first and hopefully “The 600” makes a dent in the unfathomable history of The Rwandan Genocide against the Tutsi. BUT….thanks so much for the Award and validating the work we have done. Also thanks to the Shoah Foundation in the USA for honoring the film with a private screening at the Laemmle Theater in Santa Monica and hosting a panel afterwards. More stories need to be told!

Heroes’ Day 2020 & “The 600”

Richard Hall — Sat, 25 Jan 2020 04:58:32 +0000

“The 600” is going international in film festivals next month, but it’s also going worldwide in another way that the producers didn’t anticipate in honor of some of Rwanda’s most renowned citizens. It wasn’t long after “The 600” was released before we received inquiries from several Rwandan Embassies around the world to screen the film around the Rwandan holiday “Heroes’ Day”, on February 1. This holiday is described as “an annual event to pay tribute to people who exemplified and defended the highest values of patriotism and sacrifice for the wellbeing of the country and its citizens.” I think the men and women of the 3rd Battalion, known as ‘The 600″ certainly deserve to be associated with this holiday, and if you watch the film you will understand why. And even with this film, there is much more heroism from this battalion that has yet to be told. Not only will “The 600” extend its current Kigali screening through February 3rd, 2020 in honor of “Heroes’ Day” as a weekend long event, but Embassies in London, Seoul, Geneva, Ankara and others will also be doing private screenings of “The 600” during the beginning of February as well. (Embassies in Dakar, Senegal and Washington DC have also had screenings as well) We made an exception for the Rwandan diplomatic services this year to celebrate the subjects of our film, and we were happy to do it. They recognize the message of “The 600”, which has several intended levels. Heroism, yes. Sacrifice, certainly. Preserving History, absolutely. History must be cared for or it can be forgotten. Worse yet, it can be distorted. “The 600” recounts a history that deserves to be celebrated, so we welcome the world to our screenings.

Hotel Rwanda, Black Earth Rising, as compared to “The 600”

Richard Hall — Wed, 15 Jan 2020 22:06:08 +0000

I probably get asked about this comparison more than anything else so here are some thoughts. It goes without saying that the English language movies about The 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi are few and far between on screen, and therefore the West usually has an incomplete understanding of those events. I am not here to say “The 600”, a modestly self funded documentary, can compare to these multimillion dollar scripted projects, but there are some points to make. Hollywood did it’s take with “Hotel Rwanda”, but given the commercial nature of that project, liberties were taken with the story. Let’s compare some very basic things. A Hollywood movie ‘based on actual events’ will still make up dialogue and events, put different characters into one composite character, and can blend or omits facts in the interests of telling a compelling story. Hotel Rwanda succeeds in expressing the horror and terror of the Genocide against the Tutsi, but fails by glamorizing it’s hero with some convenient and well documented ‘look the other way’ omissions about the complete story of his own role. And it’s so focused on it’s Western characters to engage the Western audience, that it relegates the Rwandan perpetrators and the Rwandan victims as background. It’s The Genocide made accessible for the West. Black Earth Rising gets points for raising interest about The Genocide and its aftermath, but it is wholly fiction and chose the best story line twist it could think of to entertain an otherwise historically unsophisticated audience. It should not be taken as gospel, but as a work of fiction playing with some of the most tragic events of our time. That’s a pretty serious move. I cannot think of a Holocaust movie offhand for example, that went quite as far in the name of plot twists at the expense of historical background. IE, it’s always Churchill and Roosevelt not some made up world leader. It blurs the line dangerously between history and fiction, especially with a story as under-covered as Rwanda’s Genocide against the Tutsi, where most Western viewers would not be able to discern the fact from the fiction. If I saw a made up leader in a Holocaust movie, I’d know immediately that it was fantasy. In Black Earth Rising, I’m not sure viewers were equipped with the background knowledge needed to put the fantasy into context. So while it seemingly tracks history, it has no historical relevance. It exploits a complex narrative. I personally would not have taken any of these liberties. These are just my opinions as a filmmaker. What I can say about The 600 is that there are no Western analysts or journalists or historians or screen writers weighing in. It is authentically Rwandan…only participants in the 100 Days in Kigali are interviewed and their stories complement each other: Rescuers talks about Rescuees and vice versa in the same events. The capsule history leading up to 1994 is for what I hope are many first time or casual visitors to this tragic period in history. And overall, I trust the film is inspiring in it’s story of sacrifice and courage.

The Soldiers’ Interviews, Behind the Scenes

Richard Hall — Mon, 13 Jan 2020 23:30:24 +0000

One of the most interesting parts of “The 600” was having soldiers come forward and share their stories for the first time. I think in most military cultures, and especially in the Rwandan culture, talking about a soldiers’ feelings is rare outside of a close friend of family member. When we started the project, very few military veterans were willing to go on camera. One told us, “I’ll come to talk with you, but not on camera.” But the word slowly spread that we were sincere in telling their story, and then we started to see soldiers accept our invitation. The one who didn’t want to be on camera, actually was able to change his mind and give a very personal account that is in the film. Ultimately, we were down to our last two days of filming and we were able to reassure General Charles Karamba of our sincere intentions, so he was the last soldier I interviewed. By then, I had heard accounts and interviewed about 12 other veterans of The 600, so my knowledge was pretty good for a foreigner, and I think the General was able to speak freely once he knew we were filling in parts of the story from his point of view as being in the command structure of The 600. He, like so many of the others, had amazing insights and factual recall. Ultimately, I will be donating the interviews to an archive at the Ministry of Defense so they can have it for posterity, as there was so much more to the soldiers’ stories that we see in the film. I’m very grateful to them for coming forward! Richard Hall Executive Producer/Writer