Shake Hands with the Devil to open Atlantic Film Festival

Shake Hands with the Devil, the feature film about the UN mission to Rwanda led by Canadian Lt.-Gen. Roméo Dallaire, will open the 27th annual Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax this September.

The film is based on Dallaire's book of the same name and tells of his attempts to get the international community to intervene to prevent ethnic genocide in the African country.

Dallaire's book came out in 2003 and was made into an award-winning documentary by Peter Raymont.

The feature film version is being directed by Roger Spottiswoode, who helmed Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies and Ice Bound.

The producer is Halifax's Michael Donovan, who won an Oscar for backing Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. Donovan is one of the co-founders of Salter Street Films in Halifax.

Roy Dupuis, who played hockey great Maurice Richard in The Rocket, stars as Dallaire, a Canadian commander in charge of a small UN peacekeeping force.

Quebec-based star Dupuis also appeared in the Oscar-winning movie The Barbarian Invasions and the Canadian-made TV series Nikita.

Vancouver-born actress Deborah Kara Unger plays one of the few journalists who remained in Rwanda after the genocide began.

"We are thrilled to be opening the festival with such an affecting film," festival director Lia Rinaldo said in a statement.

"Michael Donovan has an impeccable ability to recognize film projects that will ultimately alter people's views on critical world issues."

The film was shot in Rwanda and Halifax.

About 800,000 people were slaughtered in Rwanda between 1993 and 1994 and Dallaire's account of his experiences there earned him a Governor General's Award. Dallaire is now retired from the military.

The Atlantic Film Festival is scheduled for Sept. 13-22 in Halifax.