We Come As Friends

Academy Award-nominated documentary filmmaker Hubert Sauper (Darwin's Nightmare) here turns his camera on Africa's newest nation, South Sudan, during its tumultuous emergence into independence in 2011. Traveling across the challenging Sudanese topography in a tiny airplane, Sauper finds that the country has been invaded by foreign nationals who recognize a diverse number of opportunities. Chinese business entities send dozens of workers to exploit South Sudan's oil resources, while Christian missionaries from the United States bring their distinctive brand of evangelicalism to the unsuspecting Sudanese. United Nations peacekeepers attempt to create order in a landscape that was ravaged for years by civil war, while Sudanese warlords lack the enthusiasm to embrace a new era of peace. Sauper captures a fair amount of unapologetic condescension on the part of several foreign visitors, most egregiously in a comment from a British bomb disposal expert who says of the Sudanese, “There must be a reason they're still 200 years behind the rest of the world.” The title We Come As Friends may suggest a Twilight Zone-style sneaky alien invasion, but the clash of cultures in South Sudan feels more like a grim comedy of errors. Winner of the Sundance Film Festival's Special Jury Award for Cinematic Bravery, this is highly recommended. (P. Hall)