View from the Crew!

Its been a fantastic first week on Shooting Dogs with over 600 visitors from all around the world! Our sister site Rwandan Survivors has also been very popular and both sites will be expanding over the coming weeks. Thanks for your continued support and interest.

Next week we will be publishing more diary entries from our BAFTA-nominated producer David Belton; news about the film; production photos and much more!

We still want to hear your views, questions and suggestions, so leave us a comment and keep coming back.

We received an interesting e-mail yesterday from Tim Vallings. Tim was an extra in the film and here he recounts his experiences and views of his time on the production and his two years in Rwanda...


My name is Tim Vallings and I spent two years working in Rwanda. Towards the end of my time in Rwanda, the Cast and Crew arrived to make Shooting Dogs. I got involved and was made to wear a blue helmet for the duration of their stay there.

I wanted to be involved because I spoke to my colleagues in Rwanda, all of whom were Rwandan - I am English - to get their thoughts on a film of this nature being made in Rwanda. Without exception, they agreed that if the impact of a genocide had gone fairly unnoticed globally, then perhaps a film made to target that very audience, might be a useful tool in the historical education of what occurred in 1994.

I loved my time in Rwanda; a paradox of complication, sadness, ambiguity, frustration whilst having joy, satisfaction and hope. It is the country that has had by far the most impact on me wherever I have lived. I got a great deal out of the country both professionally and socially.

This seemed an appropriate way of giving something back. Of making an effort to be a part of something that matters, however cynical someone might be about the impact of a film. I lived there and took the decision that it was an appropriate project to be a part of.

I left Rwanda a year ago and have been back once since.

Kind regards

Tim