USA,
2007, 88 min
Shown in 2007
CREDITS
- dir
-
Annie Sundberg, Ricki Stern
- prod
-
Annie Sundberg, Ricki Stern, Gretchen Wallace
- cam
-
Jerry Risius, William Rexer II, Phil Cox
- editor
-
Joey Grossfield
- mus
-
Paul Brill
- source
-
Break Thru Films, 30 West 26th Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10010. FAX: 212-206-1826. EMAIL: info@thedevilcameonhorseback.com.
- premiere
-
West Coast Premiere
-
COMMENTS
Annie Sundberg and documentary subject Brian Steidle attended.
OTHER
Another African crisis has unfolded, and callous officials and concerned bystanders again stand paralyzed. Unlike the Rwandan tragedy of 1994, the genocide in Darfur drags on, transforming Sudan into a landscape of missed opportunities and brutal murder. Former U.S. Marine Captain Brian Steidle is out to make some quick money, and signs on to become an unarmed military observer for the African Union. Initially assigned to the North-South ceasefire in Sudan, he soon becomes interested in stories he hears about strife in its Western region, Darfur. After edging his missions closer to the conflict, he makes the life-altering decision to pursue an assignment there. Darfur has suffered the racially motivated massacre of more than 400,000 Sudanese, including many women and children burned alive and mutilated. Two-and-a-half million villagers have fled their homes after seeing their communities incinerated. Accustomed to being a patriotic and armed fighter, 27 year-old Steidle faces the horror of his six-month contract in Darfur with only his camera. The disturbing and courageous photos he illicitly smuggles out created a media frenzy when they appear in the op-ed pages of the New York Times. Demonstrating the same humanistic approach and compassionate eye for telling detail as Steidle, filmmakers Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern (The Trials of Darryl Hunt) bear witness to tragedy as they follow the photographer from his naive arrival in Sudan through his conscience-driven rise as an activist. As he begins to realize that the Sudanese government is complicit in the genocide, he also must come to terms with his own helplessness as an observer, both in Darfur and at home.
—Hannah Eaves
FACTOID #33
French New Wave actress Jeanne Moreau’s 1974 Festival tribute, called “a veritable orgy” for her fans by the Examiner’s Stanley Eichelbaum, included screenings of four films (The Lovers, Jules and Jim, Bay of Angels and Diary of a Chambermaid), an onstage interview with Moreau and an additional two hours of clips. Running nine to 11 hours (depending on the source), the tribute was the longest recorded at the Festival.
