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Darfur Now (2007) DVD Review
Darfur Now (2007) DVD Credits:
Darfur Now (2007) Directed by:
Ted Braun
Darfur Now (2007) Written by:
Ted Braun
Darfur Now (2007) Cast:
Don Cheadle, Hejewa Adam, Pablo Recalde, Ahmed Mahmoud Abakar, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Adam Sterling
Darfur Now (2007) Released by:
Not available at this time
Region:
1
Darfur Now (2007) DVD Release Date:
26th May 2008
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Darfur Now (2007) Synopsis:

Six lives transformed by human tragedy. Six people united by a belief that anything is possible. Six people committed to stop the worst crisis of the 21st century. Six ways to save Darfur. Even the smallest act makes a difference. "Darfur Now" is a call to action for people everywhere to help stop the catastrophe in Darfur, Sudan. For the first time in history, the US government has declared a genocide while it is still ongoing. In this documentary the struggles and achievements of six very different individuals bring to light the situation in Darfur and illustrate the absolute need to get involved. From a UCLA graduate in Manhattan Beach, California, to a Darfurian woman who joins rebel forces, to the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, to a United Nations humanitarian on the ground in Sudan, to an internationally known actor and activist, and finally to a community leader in a West Darfur refugee camp, the film portrays the heroic efforts of six people trying to resolve a humanitarian tragedy unfolding before our very eyes. Written and directed by Ted Braun, the film explores the Darfur conflict through the first-hand experiences of Don Cheadle, Hejewa Adam, Pablo Recalde, Ahmed Mahmoud Abakar, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, and Adam Sterling.

Darfur Now (2007) DVD Review:

Documentaries have only recently become common viewing in American cinemas. It was so bad in the 80s that Miramax marketed Errol Morris’s The Thin Blue Line as a “nonfiction feature”, knowing how deadly documentary was to box office numbers. Part of the promotion led to the Weinstein brothers claiming the innocent man in the film was given a second chance because of the film, and it is important to recognize the use of documentary to inspire social change in American cinema. Darfur Now is not the first politically, economically, or environmentally driven, but the unbridled passion in the film is what makes it individually significant.

The film itself is a message film, pleading with the audience to help save Darfur, but it is significant simply as a human interest story as well because of the way that the issues are humanized. Following six significant individuals trying with their every resource to stop the slaughter of innocent citizens in Sudan’s war-ravaged Darfur, Dafur now stays focused on individual perspectives and personal stories. This is what makes the film so individually significant and impassioned.

The six individuals include an American activist who is attempting to work state interest in Darfur to the government, an international prosecutor who is investigating who is responsible for unnecessary killing and to be submitted to the U.N. as a war criminal to be surrendered, a Sudanese woman who is a rebel fighting in the hill against the slaughter of her people, a sheikh, a leader of the World Food Program trying to get food to all of the starving people in the ravaged zones, and actor Don Cheadle. There is no specific interest in any one person over another, despite Cheadle’s celebrity, but there is no denying the magnetic draw of George Clooney and Don Cheadle as ordinary men, even filming the footage themselves. We long for celebrities who use the power they acquire for something worthwhile, and there does get more personal footage of these two actors as they travel in a desperate attempt to raise international awareness.

The DVD includes an introduction by writer/director Theodore Braun, as well as a commentary track. There are also some additional scenes and additional sub-stories

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Darfur Now (2007) DVD review written by: Ryan Izay

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