Oscar Schindler had it easy. He just had to bribe a few officials, and there was a "framework" in place for him to keep his people as laborers. Paul Rusesabagina (and no, don't ask me how to pronounce that) not only had to bribe the officials, but also had to deal with roving bands of machete-wielding mass murderers, usually by bribing the officials into protecting them. Hotel Rwanda is a true story, involving the 1994 genocide where roving bands of Hutus massacred over a million Tutsis - an ethnic division made by the Dutch colonialists that did not exist prior to their arrival. It is a story of a man put in a situation he does not want to be in, who rises to the opportunity and saves more than a thousand people, despite the fact that he himself is Hutu. Apparently, only one scene was inserted into the film over the true story for dramatic purpose - and the purpose was only to drive home how many people were being killed, not to make the film any more dramatic than it already is.

The only downside is the presence of "Leon" (Jean Reno) as the head of the hotel company - This twisted little part of me expected Leon to come crashing through the glass with a bandoleer of grenades and guns akimbo during certain scenes.

I may have a bias for this film because of my political leanings - when the 1994 massacre first started, I sent letters to every political representative I could find, demanding immediate action. I also went looking for any way I could get myself on the ground between the machetes and the people, preferrably with some large-caliber ammunition. The total lack of interest from all of our representatives put me off on politics as a useful tool for years, and I have not felt as disallusioned since until the recent reelection of George W. Bush.

According to the film, they picked out people from the population based on appearance, referred to them as "more noble and beautiful", and put them in charge of the other ethnic group. Don't have the exact quote in front of me, sadly.