Darfur Now

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  June 27, 2008

  her69eyes

  As a 20-year-old in the 21st century, I am admittedly not always aware of the happenings outside of my immediate world. My biggest worries tend to be "When does the new season of Lost start?", or "Chipotle or Panda Express for dinner?" I am not in a minority here, i'm worried abo...( read more)ut these insignificant routine decisions while much more important issues are being fought all over the world - activism runs rampant in all walks of life. But what does it mean? What are these certain groups trying to say? What is the fight?
  
  Documentary filmmaker Theodore Braun sets out to bring awareness to the crisis in Darfur. Well, kind of - he glosses over the subject of the actual Darfur crisis and calls more attention the the act of activism. This is one of the most well-spirited and hopeful films i've ever seen about tragedy... and in the end, although it was fairly powerful, it came off as completely phony. The last twenty minutes of the film make you feel like we just witnessed six people ridding the world of it's evils and all is well. While it's good to be uplifting and bring hope, it certainly didn't make me want to leave my couch and join the effort. It looked like these people were doing well enough on their own!
  
  The film centers around six different people - all very different, but on a similar path. Hejewa Adam is a Darfur native who is now serving as a rebel fighter. After the Janjaweed killed her child and took everything from her, she decides to join up with this group. We seldom see her without an AK-47 in hand. Pablo Recalde is a member of the World Food Program in Darfur, risking his life to provide food to keep the people alive. Waiter and recent college graduate Adam Sterling stands out as a man who makes an effort to get the Governator sign a bill abolishing California investment in Darfur. Joining them is Don Cheadle, who is a completely admirable and lovable presence in the film.
  
  I didn't list all the key players because I simply wasn't left with any sort of impression on them - we never get to meet these people, all we do is tag along on the ride. It's feel good to the point of "People are dying in Darfur. Lets help! How did we get involved? Who cares."
  
  The film is very finely edited and it's direction is stylish and sharp. Braun is certainly a talented director - but I felt his efforts completely failed in this context. He was making art of a situation that you don't need to call art too. The ending of the film was borderline melodramatic and phony, and it eliminated all progress it made in our awareness of the situation. After we see a few horrific images and hear of some horror stories of the residents of Darfur, the rest of the film is a sort of tag along vacation with George Clooney and Don Cheadle. As Cheadle mentions, it's really quite pathetic that this is all the progress being made.
  
  While Darfur now is a very well polished piece of work, it's simply not compelling in the slightest. As a film that sets out to bring awareness to a crisis and let viewers of the film become further engaged with the travesties taking place overseas - it's simply a failure. All we get of Darfur natives is a few faces and the occasional story of heartbreak. Our only compassion for these people is the same amount of compassion we get when we see a commercial trying to get us to sponsor a child.
  
  Don't get me wrong, i'm well aware that this is a tragedy and something needs to be done - but my point is that the film as a whole didn't further these beliefs at all. While the film did provide a little backstory on Darfur itself, it simply wasn't informative and real enough for me to care. This isn't a horrible documentary by any stretch of the imagination, but it's sugar-coated to the point where you can't take it seriously.

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  June 4, 2008

  shannylee38

  DARFUR NOW engages us to understand and learn the crisis in sudan from different perspectives from a celebrity, a young college student, people inside the administration to people being held in this genocide. Although the event might seem hopeless at times, the documentary shows ...( read more)how the 6 people presented in the film are not letting their hands down and still keep on fighting against this massacre. It also incites us the viewers to do something about this crisis and to never lose faith.
  
  All in all, i strongly recommend this film because it is a genocide which is held right now as we speak in the 21st century . It is our mandate as civilians of the world to come together and act as one in order to stop this political non sense which engenders millions of Sudanese civillians.

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  November 13, 2008

  rachelpinkrox

  might be interesting to see.

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  September 1, 2008

  justindavis1

  Interesting and important documentary covering some of the crimes in the Darfur region of Sudan. This movie covers Don Cheadle going to China and Egypt, volunteers in Los Angeles, people in Darfur, an ICC prosecutor, the state of California, and many more people in a complex and...( read more) important story.

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  May 31, 2008

  tommyrulz

  no that looks really gay!

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