The Devil Came on Horseback
Directors: Ricki Stern, Anne Sundberg. Writers: Ricki Stern, Anne Sundberg. Cinematography: Phil Cox, Tim Hetherington, William Rexer, Jerry Risius, Anne Sundberg, John Keith Wasson. Joey Grossfield. Music: Paul Brill. Producers: Eileen Haag, Ira Lechner, Cristina Ljungberg, Ricki Stern, Anne Sundberg, Gretchen Wallace, Jane Wells. With: Brian Steidle. USA. 85 min. 2007.
This documentary centers on Brian Steidle, who left the U.S. Marines to become an “official military observer” in the chaotic Darfur region of Sudan, where he quickly concluded that Arab authorities were pursuing the genocidal extinction of the black African citizenry.
Convinced that the American people and their government would leap into action when apprised of this appalling news, Steidle dutifully sent detailed narrative descriptions and grimly incriminating photographs to the U.S. media—only to find that the American people were shocked and upset but not shocked and upset enough to do very much, while the Bush administration wasn’t willing to lavish more than empty words on the tragedy. Accordingly, the increasingly indignant Steidle left his official post, returned to the United States, and became an outspoken activist with a fierce commitment to winning hearts, minds, and money for his exemplary cause.
The first hour of this movie is a lucid and riveting account of the genocide’s root causes, malignant growth, and current status as of 2007. The last half hour, concentrating on Steidle’s activism, is sentimental and predictable in ways that the preceding material avoids; still and all, people seeking a clear, cogent exposition of the horrors in Darfur need look no further than this indispensable film.
– David Sterritt
