- So, how was your Sundance?
- Oh it was great, thanks!
- Did you see Sienna Miller? She looked hot! How about Justin Timberlake?
- No, but our documentary The Devil Came on Horseback about the genocide in Darfur did very well thank you.
- Cool.
Cool indeed. It was a great honor to premiere at Sundance and the audience response in Q and A and panels was positive, intelligent and very committed. We felt the power that movies can have to move people and move them to action. I felt it for at least 3 or 4 days, the President even mentioned Darfur in the State of the Union Address. Then I came away from the whirl of Sundance and re-engaged in the crisis that got me there.
News from Darfur and Chad is GRIM. Several aid workers were raped and beaten by Sudanese police over the weekend. One agency has been forced to shut down its operation because of the threat to its workers. The rape of a few aid-workers pales in comparison to the systematic murder, rape and pillage that have been exacted upon Darfurians. However it is a new and nasty tool of the genocide in Darfur. Aid workers supply vitally needed food and medical care to the millions displaced by this conflict. Terrifying them out of business removes the only band-aid the Darfurians have. It gets brief headlines in the back pages of the International Press. Is that enough?
Hopefully you are asking what we can do?
Plenty. As we ramp up for the next election, get informed and hold your politicians accountable. Put the issues of genocide and human rights on the political agenda. Write, scream and shout because politicians have to listen to the people who vote for them. Make sure we are not just asking for lip service. We have seen ample demonstration of that during the Bush years. Go see The Devil Came on Horseback and get active.
It is very disturbing to realize that while I was at Sundance, hundreds, perhaps thousands of people were raped, attacked and died because of this conflict. Whatever we do is not enough until this genocide is over.