The Darfur region of Western Sudan is literally being burnt alive. Since 2003, 450,000 of its black, African citizens have been mercilessly raped, tortured, and killed. Almost three million more are homeless; their villages have been destroyed by the Sudanese government and the Arab militia groups allowed to profit from the pillage. Few have witnessed this mass genocide. Even fewer know it exists. The Devil Came on Horseback is a testament to this conflict, a precious and disturbing collection of images which chronicle the devastation in Darfur, a documentary as entirely sweeping and undeniably chilling as its title suggests. Directed, written, and produced by award winning filmmakers Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern, The Devil Came on Horseback is narrated by former US Marine Captain Brian Steidle, who witnessed the genocide in Darfur firsthand and is something of a lone angel to its cause. Comprehensive, unflinching, and brutally honest, The Devil Came on Horseback has the potential to turn one of the world’s greatest and secret devastations, into a most powerful peace. This film is absolutely everything a documentary should be.
Brian Steidle had no idea what he was signing up for when he took a job ‘managing the ceasefire’ between the Sudanese government and rebel groups fighting for freedom in Darfur. Instructed to remain an unarmed, unbiased observer, Steidle was responsible only for observing and documenting the conflict in written reports. Instead, he found himself compelled to take photographs of the most horrific violence he’d ever seen; Steidle captured images of the thousands upon thousands of black Africans who were raped and mutilated before lit on fire. The reports he’d written generated little action to help the victims in Darfur, but Steidle was confident that if people could see what he’d seen, ‘there would be troops in Darfur in a week.’ This would not be the case.
Feeling the ineffectiveness of his position in Darfur, Steidle resigned and traveled back to the United States to release the images he’d gather and generate aid and military action to end the violence in Sudan. Instead of rallying the country to action, Steidle received mass criticism for his exposition, for ‘embarrassing’ the American government. Out of desperation, he traveled back to the refugee camps outside of Darfur in Chad, to gather the accounts of Sudanese refugees and make the film that would ask the world, “What will you do to stop this?”
I admit that, before seeing this film at SilverDocs, I was just as ignorant to the outrage in Darfur as the next Westerner. Steidle knew this when he made his movie. The photographs of the dead and dying, the almost unreal aerial footage of endless villages rendered to wisps of smoke, all this was prefaced by a history of the Sudanese conflict which educates, empowers, and compels. Steidle narrates the story of his duty in Darfur against the backdrop of his exclusive collection of photographs. The images are not for the faint of heart; even less so are the interviews Steidle conducts in Chad. Some of the refugees even speak English, and though the stories they tell of loved ones are no less significant than those which are subtitled, there is something distinctly profound about hearing suffering in plain English.
Unfortunately, I think many American filmmakers too easily blame the United States for the problems their movies document. The Devil Came on Horseback is such a refreshing exception to this trend. Yes, the movie demands action from Western nations, but it is also takes the time to illustrate that the problem is also very likely perpetuated by the East. There is more than a fleeting look at Sudan’s oil trade with China, the profits of which fund the weaponry used in Darfur. However, as a whole, this documentary has little to do with the blame game, and all to do with finding resolve to change.
Although The Devil Came on Horseback chronicles so much futility, so much set back, and so much discouragement, it manages to end on a note that echoes of wonderful hope. Eager, optimistic interviews collected from the refugees in Chad, who are so gracious for, so confident in America, are the most powerful part of the film’s finale. Ultimately, The Devil Came on Horseback begs us to question ourselves, “If these people, who have witnessed and endured such hateful violence, can hold on to such faith, why can’t we?”
Liz Licorish
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