All About Darfur

Sudanese-born and British-raised filmmaker Taghreed Elsanhouri's excellent documentary All About Darfur offers far more insights and background information regarding the ongoing tragedy in Sudan's Darfur region than any current U.S. media coverage. Shot on location in the heart of the war-torn region, the film details the complex roots of the genocide that have thoroughly destabilized Eastern Africa. Elsanhouri takes her camera into the homes of those who have been able to ride out the ethnic cleansing by government-backed Janjaweed militias, and into the refugee camps that have swollen with hundreds of thousands of people driven from their ancestral homelands. Outside intervention and/or protection, either by forces from other African countries or a U.S./U.N. force, are spoken about with vague hope, but obviously greater assistance from the international community is still desperately needed. Avoiding a sensationalist view of the racial and religious conflicts that fuel the Darfur crisis, the film instead allows the Sudanese people to step forward and describe their situations with dignity and intelligence. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)