The movie "Hotel Rwanda" tells the story of a 100-day genocide in an African country that few Americans had heard about. The story, set in 1994, is told from the viewpoint of Paul Rusesabagina, manager of a four-star hotel in Kigali, the capital.

Before 1994, Rwanda's population of 6 million was largely composed of two tribes -- Hutus, who made up about 85 percent, and the minority Tutsis. The Tutsis, however, had been favored when Belgian colonists controlled the country after World War II. When Rwanda became independent in 1962, a Hutu dictatorship took over. The resentful Hutus began to blame Tutsis for every crisis.

Despite this, Hutus and Tutsis lived peacefully in the same neighborhoods, spoke the same language and shared the same culture. Many intermarried.

The slaughter of Tutsis began after Hutu President Habyarimana was assassinated in April 1994, though hostilities had been escalating between the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front and government and militia forces long before that. In fact, there were U.N. peacekeeping troops in Rwanda because of that conflict.

U.N. forces pulled out, as government and militia troops went on a rampage, hacking to death Tutsis and any Hutus who tried to protect them.

At his hotel, Rusesabagina, a Hutu married to a Tutsi, shielded more than 1,000 Tutsis and Hutus.

Five Y-Press members interviewed Rusesabagina when he spoke at DePauw University in Greencastle last month. On this page, they offer some of their impressions.

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