A film starkly portraying genocide in Rwanda, in which 800 000 died a decade ago, received its world premiere in Kigali on the weekend in a stadium where thousands had sought refuge during the slaughter in the central African state.

“Sometimes in April” was shown on a giant screen on Saturday evening in the Rwandan capital Kigali before a select audience of 5000, including state President Paul Kagame and other political leaders and VIPs.

Those present also included the movie’s Haitian director Raoul Peck, and three of its leading cast members.

“I promised that the Rwandans would be the first to see “Sometimes in April”,” said Peck. “I’m proud of keeping my promise today.”

At least 800 000 people, mostly members of the minority Tutsi ethnic minority of Rwanda, were killed between April and July of 1994 after the assassination of the president.

“Sometimes in April”, the first big-budget movie to depict the events, portrays in a series of flashbacks the fate of a Rwandan family in the terror. It has been selected for this year’s Berlin Film Festival.