Sand and Sorrow
Executive produced and narrated by George Clooney. While analyzing the historical events that have given rise to an Arab-dominated government’s willingness to kill and displace its own indigenous African people, "Sand and Sorrow" also examines the international community’s "legacy of failure" to respond to such profound crimes against humanity in the past. But while immersed in the despairing crisis of our time, Freedman manages to give voice to the ever-growing and inspiring movement of those who wish to make "Never Again" finally mean something. John Prendergast, Samantha Power, and New York Times columnist Nick Kristof, lead the viewer 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. This impassioned trio inspires a growing and vocal advocacy movement that extends from rural high schools to big time college campuses, all the way to the halls of power in the US and beyond. Freedman’s camera is there to capture the heroic struggle between politics and humanity. Addis Ababa, Khartoum, New York, London-Freedman’s subjects are as varied as his stunning locations. 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, provide powerful and touching insight into the conflict. Exclusive, 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. As Freedman ventures deep inside the vast and violent Internally Displaced Persons camps of Darfur, he comes face to face with the collective sorrow of a people devastated by others’ political unwillingness and shameful indifference. These people have joined the growing spectral chorus of others who waited for help in genocides past-help that we know may never come. Total running time: 93 minutes DVD
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