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Paul (his last name is complicated). He is a Hutu, which at the time of the film is the ruling party in Rwanda after many years of oppression. He is the general manager of a posh Belgian hotel. He is kind of a social climber and very adept at making powerful people happy. Paul's wife is Tutsi.
At the time of the film, the President of Rwanda -- a Hutu -- is assassinated, and the Hutus take revenge on the Tutsi by conducting what is essentially a wholesale slaughter. Paul starts out trying to save his wife and kids and a few neighbors, and ends up protecting about 1200 people by sheltering then in the hotel and calling in favors.
Because the movie is about this particular incident at this point in time, it casts the Hutu as "the bad guys." My limited understanding of the situation leads me to think that it is more complicated than that.
The most blame for the events is really placed on the world community -- the Belgians for exacerbating the hatred between Hutus and Tutsi while they were a colonial power (they made them carry ID cards to indicate who was who and only let the Tutsi get educated and hold positions of authority), France for arming the Hutus, and Britain and the US for doing nothing.
Nick Nolte plays a cynical UN peacekeeper who is trying his best with no help from the UN itself.
There is a tragic scene fairly early in the movie where UN soldiers come to evacuate people from the hotel, but will only take foreigners and leave the Rwandans there to fend for themselves.
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