Christmas in Darfur? - Full Documentary Film (2008)

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• published: 26 Dec 2016
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In December of 2006, three nerds from Chicago came up with the idea to travel to the refugee camps on Sudan’s border in hopes of finding out what it would really take to “save Darfur.” With neither filmmaking experience nor a great deal of common sense, Jim Milak (an IT guy), Jason Mojica (a waiter), and G. Ryan Faith (a policy wonk) asked friends, family, and the denizens of the Internet to help them make this journey. Donations started trickling in, as if a testament to the general public’s inability to comprehend how so many people could be killed for so long without anybody doing anything about it. They came from the U.S. and they came from England. They came from Ambassadors and they came from busboys. Mostly, they came from complete strangers. At a time when Sudan was charging journalists with espionage, neighboring Chad was fending off coup attempts, and aid agencies were evacuating personnel, coverage of the issue was on the decline. It was a catch 22: the more dangerous things became, the more important it was to call attention to it; the more dangerous things became, the less likely anyone would be there to call attention to it. But armed with a camera, bulletproof vests, and insatiable curiosity, Jim, Ryan and Jason decided to go for it. They met rebels and they met refugees. They met humanitarians and they met politicians. Everyone had a solution and everyone had a heart of gold. And yet, for all the best intentions… not much has changed. So what’s the point? What’s was the point of making this film? What’s the point of watching it? Good question. Christmas in Darfur? serves to illuminate a crisis that has been oversimplified for the admirable sake of drawing the world’s attention to what is undeniably a catastrophe—revealing a bit of the complexity that needs to be understood if a practicable solution is ever to be found. The film also shows how easy it is to become overwhelmed by this complexity—something that happened to our intrepid travelers. Finally, it demonstrates what happens when everyday people take it upon themselves to play a part in the world unfolding around them. -- Filmed December 2006-January 2007 Released December 2008 First YouTube upload December 2016