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“DARWIN’S NIGHTMARE” the other side of the film


Darwin’s Nightmare, a film made by Mr. Sauper, is bound to attract attention – at least for viewing it once. Tragically, those who are the subject of this film and whose lives may be drastically affected by it have not been able to express their views. This is principally because the film, titled as it is, readily fits into the stereotype image of Africa that is widespread and daily reinforced by stories, even today as we write this, from Somalia, Sudan, Sierra Leone, the Niger Delta, the DR Congo, etc.

More on http://www.darwinsnightmare.net - The Truth On Hubert Sauper’s "Darwin’s Nightmare" Film

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I don’t know who you are, but your motivation is transparent. There is nothing you can say, and no web site you can pull out of your magic hat, that will change my mind about the dire circumstances in Tanzania as revealed in “Darwin’s Nightmare.” This was about the underbelly of Tanzanian society, but metaphorically, it was a more powerful revelation of the state of Africa. This is not the first documentary I have ever seen about abject poverty and running guns in poverty stricken areas of the world. Between contrived wars and HIV/AIDS, Africans are a dying breed of humans. And the world watches as the powers that be fuel the cycle of self-destruction until Africans kill each other off over money and Europeans come to make money. This documentary is about pimps and whores on a larger more global platform. Honestly, after watching this film, I am surely doubting the existence of a merciful God. That is something I will have to struggle with the rest of my life. While I still pray --which may not be for long, the Tanzanian people will remain in my prayers and I only hope they can find peace and happiness amidst the troubles of the world. Can anybody save Africa? – It has been pimped, whored, raped and pillaged since the Europeans arrived. I highly recommend this documentary for anyone trying to understand what is happening not only in Tanzania, but in Africa as a whole.

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Here we go again... every once in a while someone steps up and shouts:"Europeans are the root of all evil, and those poor poor africans have absolutely no blame whatsoever in their own misery!"
Very well, this movie is showing tonight on tv in my horrible european country, and i shall watch. then i shall go off and kill myself in shame or something. I am the root of all evil, for i am European!

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phritzz
You are an idiot. If you think that's the point of this movie, then you are an idiot.
:"Europeans are the root of all evil, and those poor poor africans have absolutely no blame whatsoever in their own misery!"
I have never heard anyone say that. There are several reasons for Africa being a poor continent. Things to do with the natural resources and animals that can't be tamed.

This movie is about european companies explioting the state of which Africa is in to make money. I don't see how that can be a bad thing to show.

Stop being so narrowminded and stop seeing everything in black or white. This whole thing is so much more complicated.

Oh and by the way, I'm also european.

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It sounds like you read guns, germs and steel. In my opinion, your misinterpretting the book. The book explains the broad historic reasons that Africa came to its present situation. It can't explain things like things like the nile perch or political instability.

ur ma!

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***No Don - you’re an idiot. For saying Phritzz is one.***

phritzz comment about "...root of evil..." was about "elowil", not the film.
a agree with u about the problem being complicated.
BUT the film was VERY simple. If u listen to the remarks and questions of the maker of the film u can see that the film is far from being bias. The few questions he asked were WEEK, cliché and VERY non bias.
Seeing that the film got so many awards, I’m considering doing one "African documentary" myself. Seems that standards for such documentary’s are low. U see, Africa is a HUGE country full of pictures like those shown, just filming a bunch of starving Africans with nothing new to say is lame. Anyone can do it. U can see that most if not all awards were European. This is because Europeans feel guilty and wouldn’t dare to not award a film that has starving Africans.

AND let’s remember that Russia is not so much Europe as it is Asia. Russia is not in European Union and is not even a democracy. Most, if not all, European countries are in EU and have some regulations concerning import from Africa.

I really think weak documentaries like this one are a big problem themselves. Those people deserve better.

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it seems clear from phritzz's comment that he was referring to the content of the film, not elowil's comment. the problem is complicated.

have you done your documentary yet? seems that you're just like the rest of the problem... not actually interested in seeing what it is when you'd rather just be critical about the things other people have done. are you anyone or are you just another idiot? and let's remember that it's always someone else's fault.

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i fully agree with you. i am from a western european country and had no clue how the real sub-saharian africa looks like... i knew about the poverty and thought i would _never ever_ go there because of the crime and illnesses.

seeing the truth in pictures really shocked me. why does god let such horrible things happen? i am so sad about this...

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Because there is no God. If there was, our lives would be much better than they are now. Playing the blame game never has solved ANY issue in any country! While all the finger pointing is going on, many people are starving and dying of AIDS. I cannot understand why someone would sarcastically say "those poor poor Africans and why are we to blame the Europeans". It's funny how defensive people get when someone hits close to home isn't it?

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I would say that its a great film, one of my favorites ever. It seems like that site mentioned is drastically missing the point of the movie. However I think that what they're fighting is the impression that many people immediatly get from watching the film. I would say that Darwin's Nightmare is a great encompassing film but because its so powerfull they are attacking it to reduce the impression some people are getting from the general image of AFrica in the media. Many people will watch a film like this and then just go out and support aid programs. Aid isn't necessarily a bad thing but it can be very bad. Part of what the movie was attacking which people may have missed is the neocolonialism partly created by governments and NGO's aid. Today NGO's present a very destitute image of Africa to get people to support them. Individually they're just showing the very bad instances, but this can be generalized and it creates an industry of aid where people donate to feel good about themselves. Africans are shown as destitute individuals that NEED your charity - its a very patronizing image. What is really important is justice. Governments will dump food claiming to be doing a very good thing, but in reality they're destroying the means for the people to pull themselves up, creating a dependency. Aid can be good but has to be used wisely. Think back on the man talking about curing the "symptoms" with aid, when they should be attacking the "disease" where he mentioned the gun trade. Also do look at other sides and try to get informed, if this had an impact on someone, they should look at other sources of information that try to be unbiased. The movie only gives a window and the filmakers point of view, but there's a much bigger picture involved. If you want to know what's going on, watch this, but don't base your impression off of it.

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I agree with everything you said. Except for the part about God. I don't believe in God. Therefore to the question who will save these people. It has to be us.
Btw, currently China is doing a fine job buying its way into Africa.

What other documentaries about Africa would you recommend?

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Ha, that website is just some sort of anti-propaganda. Negative remarks are even removed from the forum.
Just check out this pics from the gallery:

http://www.darwinsnightmare.net/photos/albums/userpics/10001/sauper3.jpg
http://www.darwinsnightmare.net/photos/albums/userpics/10001/sauper4.jpg

Seems like Sauper hit a nerve... lol.

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Definitely is anti-propaganda...the same Filgga also runs some jambo forum website where they hate on neighboring Africans but promptly delete any opposing views.


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