The country of Rwanda has been a very weighty subject over the last few years. First, with Don Cheadle’s Hotel Rwanda; and now, John Hurt and Hugh Dancy in Beyond the Gates.

The film is based on actual events that took place in the African country in the mid-1990’s following a group of refugees holed up in a UN makeshift camp. But, when the UN troops pulled out, they left some of the refugees to die.

Hugh spoke to us about taking part in such an emotional film; here’s what he had to say.

Does the atmosphere change on set while you’re making a movie like this? Are you able to have fun?

Hugh Dancy: In the short answer, yes. But in specific to this movie, at times it was challenging and I expected that when I got into it. One was, we were working with the Rwandans, in the crew, and that allowed us not to carry the whole story so heavily; and if they’re not, than what right do you have. They were enjoying life, despite what they were going through. The other thing is we were as far from Hollywood movie making as possible; we were just doing work, and doing our best.

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IT’S BEEN A LONG TIME coming, but “Shooting Dogs,” the “other” Rwandan genocide movie, has finally secured a North American theatrical release.

New York-based Adirondack Pictures has acquired the rights and teamed with IFC Films to handle distribution.

Directed by Michael Caton-Jones, pic opens March 9 with a new title for American auds: “Beyond the Gates.” The new moniker is meant to broaden the film’s appeal beyond urban liberals, its primary audience in other territories.

By the time the film made its 2005 Toronto Film Festival premiere, the producers faced U.S. buyers potentially overexposed to the pic’s subject matter. United Artists released the well-received “Hotel Rwanda” in 2004, while HBO bowed its telepic “Sometimes in April” in 2005.

However, the Caton-Jones drama is arguably the most authentic of the three. It derives much of its raw emotional power from the fact that it was the only one to shoot in Rwanda itself, using many crew and extras who lived through the horrific events it depicts. The end credits, a moving testimonial to their contribution, are worth the price of admission alone.

Producer David Belton was part of the BBC news team in Rwanda during the genocide. His experiences inspired him to develop the movie, which was backed by BBC Films. Belton earned a BAFTA nomination last year and the film also got two nods at the British Independent Film Awards.

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I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas or Jewish holiday, whichever you celebrate! And as always, a lovely New Year.

According to this article on co-star Kevin Zegers, The Jane Austen Book Club has wrapped! As quoted: “And The Jane Austen Book Club with Emily Blunt and Marc Blucas. That’s just finished. It’s really good. So there’s that.”

Hooray! My only estimate is that he’s got Broadway rehearsals next…off to the Big Apple. ;] Another thing is that Shooting Dogs could again be getting its 3RD RENAME! This time from the sappy In Every Human Heart to Beyond the Gates, a much better name but still without the punch of the original. I think I’ll take that one over the first rename ever though.

HDi also has a new affiliate, Long Ago Captures, which features caps of Hugh’s movies King Arthur and Daniel Deronda as well as others. Enjoy.

ETA: Added a bunch of Blood and Chocolate media! 9 promotional stills and 1 preview screenshot of the upcoming official website. Hugh looks beautiful. Credit again goes to Katja von Garnier’s site. Thanks for linking to our website, guys. :]

I added two seemingly unseen or new Shooting Dogs (“In Every Human Heart“?) posters to the gallery as one new promo shot from B&C that I came across. Tis good to Google at midnight!

Announcement! If you want more Hugh in your LiveJournal life, I invite you to join DancyFans! Melly and I hope to keep it as up to date as this site. Plus, it’ll just be a great place for Dancy fans to flock to just to talk about that boy…man. Guy. So please join!

Finally, HDi also has a new affiliate, Ed Speelers Online, dedicated to the cute kid in Aragon. Check ‘em out.

• 01 x Blood and Chocolate: Promotional Stills
• 02 x In Every Human Heart: Promotional Stills