A press conference concerning the film, with Dallaire, Dupuis, Spottiswoode, the producers Laszlo Barna (Barna-Alper) and
Michael Donovan (Halifax), as well as
Wayne Clarkson of
Telefilm Canada, occurred in
Montréal on June 2, 2006.[5]
In a special account of the filming published in the Toronto Star on 22 July 2006, David Thompson observes that the actor Roy Dupuis "looks eerily like Dallaire, sporting a carefully groomed moustache, summer tan uniform and authentic blue beret":
Indeed, Dupuis is even wearing Dallaire's original army
nametag and decorations from 1994. Dallaire is collaborating on this project – right down to a line-by-line review of the script – and insisted on giving Dupuis the decorations to add authenticity. He also gave Dupuis something of himself. "I feel a real connection with this man. He opened up to me", Dupuis says during an interview on the set, the first time he has spoken with media since the gruelling shoot began in Rwanda a month ago. "I'm here because of him." ("One Last Dance with the Devil")
In "New Rwanda Genocide Movie Criticizes U.N. Role", first posted on
Reuters on August 9, 2006, Arthur Asiimwe quotes from his interview in
Kigali with the film's director
Roger Spottiswoode:
"Our film is about a man who was aware
genocide was coming and tried to get the
U.N. to allow him to do something about it, but ... instead it turned him down ... It is really about the bigger issue of what the U.N. role is in situations like these", he told
Reuters at the capital's
Amahoro stadium, which sheltered thousands of terrified residents in 1994 as the killers roamed the streets outside.
Spottiswoode said the film was particularly timely given the calls on the
United Nations to intervene to end the war in Lebanon, and the ongoing efforts to send a U.N. force to stop rampant murders and rapes in
Sudan's troubled
Darfur region. The
United States has called the
Darfur conflict genocide.[6]
On August 13, 2006, Halifax's The Chronicle Herald issued a call for extras, reporting "After filming several months in
Kigali, Rwanda, crews return to
Halifax to begin the final shoot ... It will be released in Canada [in September 2007] by
Seville Pictures. Pay channels
The Movie Network,
Movie Central, and
Super Écran have signed on for broadcast rights, along with the
CBC and its French-language network
Radio-Canada."[7] According to Marie-Chantal Fiset, in her interview with Jean-Guy Plante published on August 27, 2006, "J'ai serré la main du diable, en version française, devrait sortir en salle en octobre 2007." (The French version of the film, entitled J'ai serré la main du diable, will open in movie theaters in October 2007.)
The film received mixed reviews from critics. On
Rotten Tomatoes it has an approval rating of 55% based on reviews from 11 critics.[8] On
Metacritic the film had an average score of 57 out of 100, based on 8 reviews.[9]
Fiset, Marie-Chantal.
"Jean-Guy Plante replonge au coeur du génocide rwandais:[permanent dead link] Originaire de St-Félix, il a participé au tournage de Shake Hands with the Devil." [Interview with former soldier and military spokesman for the
United Nations who served as the film's consultant on military matters.] Le Citoyen de l'Harricana (
Amos, Abitibi, Québec) August 27, 2006. Les Hebdos Régionaux de Quebecor August 26, 2006. Accessed August 27, 2006. (Incl. photo of Plante with Roy Dupuis during shooting.)
Fraughton, Holly.
"Out of Africa: Filming in Rwanda 'bit of a culture shock' for Director of Photography Bibby." [Interview.] Halifax Chronicle-Herald August 27, 2006. Accessed August 27, 2006.
Thompson, Allan.
"One Last Dance with the Devil: On Location in Rwanda, As the Cast and Crew of Shake Hands with the Devil Try to Recreate an Unimaginable Horror."
Toronto Star July 22, 2006.