>>REVIEW
ALL ABOUT DARFUR
DIRECTED BY Taghreed Elsanhouri
Wednesday, June 21
Uptown Screen
Imagery from the Sudan, as seen on the news, usually revolves around the aftermath of murder, rape and starvation. A typical clip of the Sudanese commenting on the crisis is kept short and simple.
But a new documentary, All About Darfur, by Taghreed Elsanhouri, is unique in that it sets out to fill the gap of understanding between the western viewer and the people of Sudan. The film is a poignant and meaningful documentary that takes you beyond the traditional coverage and straight into the heart of Sudanese society, probing the nature and causes of strife through interviews conducted by Elsanhouri as she travels around the country.
Elsanhouri uses a café in the northern part of the country as her reference point. There you see people, many of whom have lost loved ones to the crisis, casually sitting around drinking tea and talking – an interesting contrast to typical coverage of devastation.
Voiceover commentary is kept to a minimum as she engages the people of Sudan in poignant conversations about the genocide, allowing the viewer to hear commentary directly from the eloquent and diverse population.
The documentary reveals a culture deeply mistrustful of outside intervention, thanks to a history of occupation and power struggles. At one point Elsanhouri finds herself in an elementary school, observing students as they literally act out the conquest of Sudan under Egyptian military ruler Ismail Pasha, brutality and all. What is almost shocking to western eyes is the way the teacher instructs the students to divide into two groups based on race – Arabs on one side, Africans on the other. But the carefree way the students go about the exercise shows that the young Sudanese students are accustomed to taking racial differences with a kind of casual ease.
The documentary sets out to illustrate the idea that race is relative to context. For example, one interviewee points out that an Arab Sudanese would be considered African by somebody in Egypt or Saudi Arabia, even while being regarded as Arab in his or her own country.
Elsanhouri notes that, as a Sudanese woman who grew up in Britain, she understands what it is like to face racism, while also understanding what it is like to be part of the dominant group, being from the northern part of Sudan. This double consciousness, she says, informs her story.
She underscores the complexity of the African nation’s political and social situation, taking the viewer through its history of occupation and conquest by the British and the Egyptians, through the civil wars and up to its present situation of racial-cultural divide. The documentary explores the themes of unity, multiculturalism and identity in a nation born out of imperialism.
All About Darfur will have an exclusive screening as part of The Arusha Centre’s Action Film series on Wednesday, June 21 at the Uptown Screen. |
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