Darfur Now
Review by Camerin Courtney | posted 11/02/2007
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In February 2003, after years of economic, political, and social hardship, the tribes people of Sudan, the geographically largest nation in Africa, staged a rebellion against their government. These corrupt officials in turn armed the Arab "Janjaweed" militia to destroy civilian populations believed to support the rebels. In 2004, the U.S. government declared genocide in Darfur, a historic move, as such conflict had previously never been declared genocide while the strife was still ongoing.
Four years after the rebellion began and three years after that landmark declaration, where do things stand? Darfur Now attempts to answer that question by introducing us to six individuals fighting the genocide in various capacities around the world. Adam Sterling is a student activist who lobbies to keep California state monies from companies that fund the Sudanese government (an economic strategy called divestment). Luis Moreno-Ocampo, prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (where the U.N. Security Council referred the situation in Darfur in 2005), gathers evidence against those in power believed responsible for the atrocities. Don Cheadle, the American actor who gained interest in the region while filming 2004's Hotel Rwanda, uses his star power to raise public awareness and to gain access to foreign governments with fellow actor/activist George Clooney. Pablo Recalde, leader of the World Food Program Team in Darfur, organizes risky distribution of needed supplies throughout the war-torn region. Ahmed Mohammed Abakar, chief sheikh of the Hamadea displacement camp, tries to keep order and peace among the 47,000 refugees living there. And Hejewa Adam, who became a rebel fighter when her infant son was beaten to death on her back, guards the region with both desperation and defiance. In between these six people's stories, we receive firsthand accounts from Sudanese people who can barely speak aloud the atrocities they've seen and experienced.
Ahmed Mohammed Abakar oversees 47,000 refugees
Director Ted Braun told Newsweek, "Documentaries have for almost their entire tradition been used as part of activist agendas and agents of social change. While I wanted to help provoke a change in the world's attention to the Darfur situation, my agenda as a filmmaker was to invite my audiences to understand and experience my subjects as human beings first." This firsthand look at both the genocide and the fight against it is the movie's greatest strength. Between startling statistics flashed on the screen—such as the fact that since the conflict began, 200,000 Sudanese have been killed and another 2.5 million displaced—we watch the daily realities and tireless efforts of these six individuals. Their passion, fear, frustration, sacrifice, and triumph pull us in to a subject that can often feel too big and complicated to engage.
Not only does Braun use personal story to draw us in, he gives us three specific story arcs to navigate us through the larger battle. We watch Adam Sterling push AB 2941, a California law to prevent state funds from being invested in companies with Sudanese oil interests. We observe Luis Moreno-Ocampo painstakingly gather evidence to secure arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court for top Sudanese officials. And we see Pablo Recalde send a large convoy of food supplies across many dangerous miles to meet a huge need in the northern region of Sudan. It's both helpful and important to be given these specific mile markers to look for while simultaneously learning how very long and difficult the overall journey is. And throughout these macro and micro journeys, Braun pauses just long enough to keep the human element alive by focusing on small details: dusty feet, deserted huts, colorful clothing, children's drawings of men with guns, tear-stained faces, triumphant smiles.
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