To those who have seen this film and care deeply about Darfur this comment will feel uncaring, even heretical. Rest assured that I do care about Darfur, but I can't escape the fact that this documentary is not really about Sudan, it's about a person -- Brian.
Brian volunteered to be a military observer in Sudan to observe the cease fire of 2004. He witnessed many of the horrible events that happened that year. Many photographs were taken. Many are damnable of an uncaring Sudanese government. We are shown a few, but not enough. The film is very disappointing in that respect. It gives reason to those who claim that Brian's dossier does not constitute a strong enough case.
The first half is a rough chronology of Brian's stint in Sudan. It is described in words. What is on the screen is a random assemblage of footage that is flashed without context. Sure, dead bodies are dead bodies, burning villages are so, kids do play ball, Brian folds his tent, etc. The problem is that this material is edited so poorly that it becomes a mess of images. There is no focus. Images and words are often disconnected. We are quite often not sure what we see.
The editing improves when Brian goes to Chad. Finally we get a cohesive narrative that holds together visually. The short visit to Rwanda is also properly handled.
Overall it is a disappointing documentary. A missed opportunity to build a stronger case for saving Darfur and also a disservice to the work Brian has done to expose the crimes that are being perpetrated. The excessive focus on Brian and less on his photos ends up painting this as an ego trip.
Brian volunteered to be a military observer in Sudan to observe the cease fire of 2004. He witnessed many of the horrible events that happened that year. Many photographs were taken. Many are damnable of an uncaring Sudanese government. We are shown a few, but not enough. The film is very disappointing in that respect. It gives reason to those who claim that Brian's dossier does not constitute a strong enough case.
The first half is a rough chronology of Brian's stint in Sudan. It is described in words. What is on the screen is a random assemblage of footage that is flashed without context. Sure, dead bodies are dead bodies, burning villages are so, kids do play ball, Brian folds his tent, etc. The problem is that this material is edited so poorly that it becomes a mess of images. There is no focus. Images and words are often disconnected. We are quite often not sure what we see.
The editing improves when Brian goes to Chad. Finally we get a cohesive narrative that holds together visually. The short visit to Rwanda is also properly handled.
Overall it is a disappointing documentary. A missed opportunity to build a stronger case for saving Darfur and also a disservice to the work Brian has done to expose the crimes that are being perpetrated. The excessive focus on Brian and less on his photos ends up painting this as an ego trip.