The Devil Came on Horseback
21 April 2007, lunch time
I’m a big fan of the Hotdocs film festival that takes place in the spring here in Toronto. As in previous years, I bought myself a festival pass, and plan to watch a crap load of films over the next week or so. The first film I saw for the festival, The Devil Came on Horseback was an incredibly depressing look at what is going on in Sudan. (I suppose it’d be tricky to make a happy go-lucky film about Sudan.) The movie follows ex-Marine Captain Steidle as he tries to raise awareness about the situation in Darfur. Steidle was on the ground as things there started to escalate, and witnessed first hand all the wanton death and destruction reigned down by the Janjaweed. He was in Darfur as a monitor with the African Union, and took countless photos of the things he saw. I don’t think I’ve ever see that many dead bodies in a single film. I honestly have no idea how he can sleep at night, having seen first hand all the things he has seen. It must be incredibly hard. The Devil Came on Horseback is excellent. It’s a very powerful film. I think everyone needs to watch it.
The official The Devil Came on Horseback web site. This was the first movie I saw at Hotdocs 2007.