Nov 12, 2007

Darfur Now

by Laura Starita

A few weeks ago a new documentary entitled Darfur Now was released. Director Ted Braun made the film with the help of high profile activists such as Don Cheadle and International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo. Together they visit the refugee camps of the western Sudan regions to chronicle the mass, violent displacement of two million of its people. True to its genre, the film does well to document the atrocities that took place there, most dramatically between 2003 and 2005, but its clear goal is to inspire viewers to act by pressuring governments for more substantive sanctions and otherwise make good on their rhetoric of “consequences.”

At the same time that Darfur Now encourages more activism, a recent edition of Newsweek has published a debate between Africa scholar Alex de Waal (author of War in Darfur and the Search for Peace and participant in the 2005 Abuja peace talks) and activist John Prendergast (board member of the Save Darfur Coalition and co-author with Cheadle of Not on our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond). If one can get past the sniping and self-congratulation that both debaters sink to, the debate highlights some interesting things about the way in which activists can bring about positive change by pressuring governments and corporations to take a substantive stand against unacceptable situations. Those actions in themselves don’t always come without unintended negative consequences, however. A worthwhile read.

New York Times: Darfur Now

Newsweek: Dueling over Darfur