1 Cinematizing Atrocity: A Comparison of Darfur DocumentariesAmy Palace Mentor: David Wittenberg, English Department Background: Since 2003 when the Sudanese government unleashed its militia known as the janjaweed on the civilians of Darfur, an estimated 300,000 people were killed in the following two years and 400 villages were destroyed. In September 2004, the Bush administration declared the situation in Darfur a genocide and media attention seized Darfur in the following months. Although today much of the large-scale janjaweed attacks have subdued in the region, Darfur remains an unstable area of immense humanitarian concern with 2.7 million currently living in internal displacement camps. Since the beginning of the conflict, over 10 documentaries have been created about Darfur, falling across a broad spectrum of style and representation. In my thesis I compare three films, All About Darfur, Sand and Sorrow, and On Our Watch. Each represent a unique genre of storytelling as they seek to advocate and inform. Ethical Issues: What are the inherent successes and challenges in using film as a mode of expressing atrocity? If the filmmaker's goal is to accurately represent a certain reality, how can one neglect one's own subjectivity in a subject as emotionally and politically charged as Darfur? How does each film conform to/ stray from traditional stereotype s of Africa? How do the filmmakers strive for accurate, yet balanced representation? How do funding sources affect the presentation of each film? How do filmmakers provide against compassion fatigue and/or sensationalizing? Individual vs. the whole: When is suffering portrayed through the story of one victim, and when through staggering shots of thousands? INTERVIEWS. VOICEOVER. SUBTITLES. MUSIC. MAPS. CLOSE-UPS. Sand and Sorrow Released Dec 2007 Directed and produced by Paul Freedman, narrated by George Clooney Produced in partnership with HBO only ran in select theaters, presented at the International Emerging Talent Film Festival in Monte Carlo All About Darfur Released 2005 Directed and produced by Taghreed Elsanhouri, Sudanese-born and educated in Britain Distributed by California Newsreel On Our Watch Released Nov 2007 Broadcast for PBS Frontline Produced and directed by Neil Docherty Levels of Textual Analysis: Who is quoted in each film? How does this reflect the intentions of the filmmaker? How much gore/ “shock value” does the film rely on? How does the rhetoric of the film employ/exploit the viewer’s emotions? How does each film interpret the appropriate role of the international community in response to the Darfur crisis?