SHORT GRAND PRIX COMPETITION

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

CHILDREN OF DARFUR

Denmark, 2006, 24 min. Arabic, English, Danish

Director: Camille Nielsson
Producer: Camille Nielsson
Script: Camille Nielsson
Cinematography: Camille Hjelm Knudsen, Camille Nielsson
Editing: Christoffer Dreyer
Music: Great Music.dk
Sound: Camille Nielsson
Production company: Third Eye Productions
Print Source:
Kim Christiansen
TV2 World,
Rugaardsvej 25,
DK-5100 Odense,
Denmark
Tel.: + 4551563380
several e-mail: kimc@tv2.dk / thirdeye@email.dk


Children Of Darfur

Today Darfur is facing, what the United Nations describes as “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.” Marauding bands of nomadic Janjaweed militia, at odds with the land-owning farmers of the region, have wrecked havoc across Darfur, burning villages, killing men and raping women. The worst affected by the crisis are Darfur’s children. Not only do they represent 50% of the displaced people of the region, now forced to live in ill-equipped refugee camps, many of them have witnessed the murder of family members, including parents. This arresting film shows the largely ignored conflict through the eyes of 15 year old Sumaya, who makes her home with her siblings in a displacement camp in the desert. She openly speaks of the lack of medicine, food, water and shelter that are part of her daily existence, as well as the unsettling fact that even in the camp she is not safe. Soldiers prey on women who leave the camp to collect firewood, but many of them have no other choice if they want to feed their families. Yet Sumaya still finds the time to help out at a center for traumatized children who like her had to escape the Janjaweed attack on her village on foot. Filmmaker Camille Nielsson’s grounded approach takes viewers beyond the fast paced typical news story and gives the children at the center of this devastating war a chance to speak.

Camille Nielsson holds a MA in Cultural Anthropology from New York University. She has worked as a producer and media consultant for UNICEF. Her documentaries on children’s rights have aired on national TV across Europe. She is an independent director, producer and cinematographer based in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Filmography:

Children Of Darfur (2006)
Good Morning Afghanistan (2003)
Durga (2004)
The Bride Who Wouldn't Smile (1998)

SATURDAY, MARCH 31 AT 3:00 PM./FACET CINEMATHEQUE

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MONDAY, APRIL 2 AT 3:00 PM./CHOPIN THEATRE

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TUESDAY, APRIL 3 AT 5:00 PM./CHOPIN THEATRE

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