When it comes to documentaries, sometimes exploitation is the key to success (see: the popularity of Michael Moore’s films versus the relative flop of Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains). But with Darfur Now, the latest documentary about an important international topic, over-the-top techniques take a back seat, allowing writer-director Ted Braun (We’re Here to Speak for Justice) to create a successful film.
The situation in the Darfur region of the Sudan has been shoved under the rug in U.S. politics, particularly after the start of the war in Iraq. But even without the attention – or perhaps because no one is paying attention – the genocide in Darfur is continuing. It’s particularly appropriate that the main actor who appears in this documentary is Don Cheadle (Ocean’s Thirteen), nominated for an Oscar for his role in another film about an African tragedy, Hotel Rwanda. As Sen. Joseph Biden tells Cheadle on Real Time with Bill Maher, “… somebody is going to win an Oscar – probably not as good an actor as you – for writing the same thing about Darfur 10 years from now.”
Darfur Now hopes that the sad subtext of Biden’s comment – that Darfur will be ignored as Rwanda was – doesn’t come to pass. The documentary shows us the conflict through the lives of six people: 24-year-old waiter/activist Adam Sterling, World Food Program leader Pablo Recalde, Sudanese rebel Hejewa Adam, displaced camp leader Ahmed Abakar, Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court Luis Moreno Ocampo and Cheadle. Through the lives of these people, all heavily invested in Darfur, we learn about the situation from different perspectives.
Braun’s choice of subjects turns out to have been very prescient. The audience is able to see the connections the situation in Darfur has to places and people all over the world. For example, the audience sees Ocampo in the Hague, discussing how the Janjaweed militia attacks villages supporting rebels; then, the documentary switches to the aftermath of one of those attacks in Darfur, and the audience hears from a person who experienced it all.
Also importantly, the audience hears testimony from the Sudanese people themselves. For example, Adam’s son was beaten to death while he was on her back. Yet the gun-toting Adam still says fighting won’t solve the problems in Darfur in 100 years, and that instead, it will take other methods to solve the region’s problems.
Because the film gives audiences access to many stories, they can see different levels of the situation. On the ground in Darfur, Recalde shows viewers the side of a food convoy truck shot 12 times. At the campaign level, Sterling goes from talking to people on the street to getting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign his bill into law, divesting California state funds out of Sudan. At the international level, Ocampo gathers evidence and indicts war criminals as prosecutor for the ICC in the Hague.
Yet what is lacking from Darfur Now is a discussion of the U.S. position on Darfur, and why there aren’t more peacekeepers in the region. Also frustrating is the lack of suggestions for what audience members can do, despite hearing Cheadle mention he is asked all the time what the average person can do. This is alleviated somewhat by Sterling’s story, which provides an example of something incredible the average person can accomplish. Also, the film’s website, www.participate.net/darfurnow, has a number of helpful links to information about how to get involved.
Overall, Darfur Now is educational and moving. Graeme Revell’s (Planet Terror) score isn’t overdone, the range of storylines makes for incredible cross-cutting and the testimonials from actual victims give a potent sense of the human cost of Darfur. Cheadle may not win an Oscar for this film about tragedy in Africa, but the film will receive recognition nevertheless.
dan.benamor@gmail.com
RATING: 4 stars out of 5
