 |
SAND AND SORROW details the historically tragic events in Dafur that have given rise to
an Arab-dominated government's willingness to kill and displace its own indigenous
African people, and examines the international community's "legacy of failure" to respond
to such profound crimes against humanity in the past. To date, as many as 400,000
civilians in Darfur have perished from violence, starvation and disease.
The documentary offers an exclusive look at the situation on the ground inside
Darfur, drawing on unprecedented access to a contingent of African Union peacekeeping
forces. SAND AND SORROW follows human rights activist John Prendergast, Harvard
University professor Samantha Power and New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof as
they journey through burgeoning refugee camps along the Chad-Sudan border, past
mass graves inside Darfur itself, and into offices of the United States Senate to plead on
behalf of the innocents of Darfur. They have helped fuel a growing and vocal
international advocacy movement that is determined to make the phrase "never again"
mean something.
From Khartoum to New York to London, experts interviewed in the film include
such varied individuals as Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, U.S. Senators Barak Obama and
Sam Brownback, Sudan scholars Alex de Waal and Gerard Prunier, and rebel leader
Minni Minawi, each of whom provides a powerful argument for ending this conflict now,
and finally learning the lessons of recent history. The behind-the-scenes coverage of the
historic but failed Darfur peace signing in Abuja, Nigeria, and the inspiring rally on the
Washington Mall confront the viewer with the power of hope and the face of evil.
In the U.S., efforts extend from rural high schools and big college campuses all the
way to the halls of power. SAND AND SORROW follows a group of concerned Illinois
students who organized a grass-roots campaign to draw attention to the tragedy. Such
regional activities are echoed in larger demonstrations in places like Washington, D.C.,
where a huge crowd gathered in 2006 to demand action and raise awareness.
SAND AND SORROW exposes conditions in the vast, violence-ridden Internally
Displaced Persons camps of Darfur, bringing viewers face-to-face with the collective
sorrow of a people devastated by the indifference of others. These people have joined
the growing spectral chorus of those who waited for help in genocides past - help that
once again may never come.
Director Paul Freedman observes, "The tragic events taking place in Darfur
unfortunately are a continuation of the lack of response from the international community
in protecting millions of innocent lives from their own government. Without humanitarian
aid and political resolve from the U.S. and other countries, these displaced people from
Darfur could suffer the same fate as those innocents from Eastern Europe, Cambodia
and Rwanda."
SAND AND SORROW will be streamed in its entirety on hbo.com from Dec. 7
through Dec. 9; the documentary will be also available on HBO On Demand from Dec. 7
through Jan. 7. HBO is working with Campus Progress and the ENOUGH organization
on an extensive outreach campaign, which includes organized house screening parties
on the night of the documentary's debut (Dec. 6) and a live hbo.com online chat and
podcast with John Prendergast, Samantha Power and Nicholas Kristof immediately
following the network premiere.
SAND AND SORROW was the closing night film of the 2007 International
Emerging Talent Film Festival in Monte Carlo.
SAND AND SORROW was directed, produced, written and edited by Paul
Freedman; producer, Bradley J. Kaplan; co-producer, Aarti Sequeira; composer, Jamie
Dunlap; executive producers, George Clooney, Natalie Lum Freedman, Michael
Mendelsohn.
|
|
|
    |
