Songs To Enemies And Deserts Sample Clip Two.mov

From the mountains of Jebel Marra in central Darfur a ragged group of rebels swept down onto Sudanese military bases in 2003, routing the governments soldiers and making off with rifles, artillery, and vehicles. The Sudan Liberation Army had scored its first victory, and no one could predict what would follow. Instead of taking on the rebels directly, the Khartoum government sent bombers and horse-mounted militias (Janjaweed) to murder and terrorize Darfuri civilians. The ensuing horrors were documented by the international news media and the worlds outcry was part of the reason that the attacks subsided, at least temporarily. With the government murdering the civilian population to quell the rebellion, the rebels became the civilians only protection force.

Who are these men and why did they begin fighting in the first place, and what part do they play in the ongoing situation that is Darfur? Their demands are widely supported by the civilian population: they want roads and schools, clean water, health care, and representation in their countrys otherwise despotic government, controlled by an elite which has ruled from the countrys northern region since the Sudanese gained independence from the British in 1956.

We felt that in all of the attention that Darfur was getting, the Darfuri people themselves were often portrayed as abject victims, with hands outstretched, pleading with the west to come to their rescue. And yet here were Darfuris who had risen up against a murderous and racist regime, people who were very far from being helpless Africans. We wanted to understand these rebels world, their motivations, their histories, who they were and why they fought.

We also wanted to put the Darfur crisis in a broader context of of the longer and deeper history of the Sudan and of Africa. Simply put, horrific crises like the genocide in Darfur do not spring from nowhere. There are roots to the problems and until they are recognized and addressed they can never be solved, in Darfur or anywhere else.

Songs To Enemies And Deserts, (35 minutes), NTSC, Color, Filmed on digital video. In Arabic, Zaghawa, and English with English subtitles. Directed by David Martinez and Shane Bauer, photographed by David Martinez, edited by David Martinez, Shane Bauer, and Iona Sidi. Sound mixed by Luis Guerra, Terremoto Studios, New Mexico.

http://dmz2008.wordpress.com/songs-to-enemies-and-deserts/

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Darfur
• Sudan
• Africa
• Chad
• Sudan Liberation Army
• Janjaweed
• David Martinez
• Shane Bauer
• Bir Maza