CAUSE CELEBRE | TINA DAUNT - 'Darfur Now,' and not later
IT'S not clear whether Washington ever really learned the lesson of Rwanda, but it's quite evident that Hollywood got it with "Hotel Rwanda." Those touched by that 2004 film, which powerfully dramatized the ethnically motivated mass killings there in the mid-'90s that were all but ignored by the world, are determined not to let another African genocide occur unopposed.
This week, Hollywood's campaign to raise awareness about the civilian slaughter continuing in the Darfur region of Sudan was put in full view at the Directors Guild of America premiere of "Darfur Now," a comprehensive and pointed documentary on the war raging between tribes in the East African country. (Relief organizations estimate that between 200,000 and 400,000 people have been killed, while more than 2.5 million have been displaced.)
The film, which opens today in Los Angeles and New York, was written and directed by documentarian Ted Braun and shepherded through industry and governmental red tape by Cathy Schulman, who won the best-picture Oscar in 2006 for co-producing "Crash."
The 1 hour, 39-minute "Darfur Now," which is reviewed on Page E6, features the struggles of six people: a UCLA graduate trying to raise awareness in the United States about the conflict; a Darfurian woman rallying rebels to protect their village; a prosecutor seeking indictments in The Hague; a United Nations humanitarian delivering food; a refugee camp leader seeking calm; and "Hotel Rwanda" actor Don Cheadle lobbying foreign heads of state (along with George Clooney) to help end the crisis. (Bono and Stevie Wonder teamed up to sing Wonder's "Love's in Need of Love Today" over the documentary's closing credits.)
"When I first started working on the film," said Braun, "I was struck by two things: the nature of the autocracies happening to the people of Darfur and the world's indifference to them. We're letting this recurrent nightmare unfold again and again. We wanted to make a film that shows what's happening but also emphasizes that people can work to make a difference."
The conflict in Darfur erupted nearly five years ago when the struggle for water and other limited resources in the drought-stricken region made it difficult for the country's ethnic groups -- with their long-simmering tribal tensions -- to live harmoniously. Rebels seeking relief attacked government buildings and personnel in 2003. Officials in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum allegedly responded by urging horseback-riding Arab militias, known as janjaweed, to attack farming villages loyal to the rebels with the promise that they could keep the land.
- After `Rwanda,' drawn to Darfur Dec 22, 2006
- Return to scene of Rwandan genocide Jun 02, 2005
- 'Hotel Rwanda' Should Open Our Eyes to the Genocide in Sudan Dec 23, 2004
