Dan Collins is a guy who blogs at Protein Wisdom. He lives in Vermont because it's less exhausting to hate people from a distance.
Dan Collins
The Indie Documentary: ‘Christmas In Darfur’
by Dan CollinsSeveral years ago, a ragtag group of internetizens decided to go to Darfur, then the subject of a good deal of hand-wringing and tutting by Concerned Important People – including, of course, a number of Hollywood celebrities of one or another of the alphabetical lists — to see what conditions were like in that genocide ground. Their idea was that they would create a documentary – though none of them had any experience doing so – and so they scraped together whatever money they could by emptying bank accounts and begging from friends, family, and online for equipment and travelling money. Then, after convincing their wives they were going to attend a web technology conference in Vegas, they went first to Addis Ababa, then Chad. There they visited refugee camps full of exotic people of color, and eventually met up with rebel fighters. After a long struggle, and many, many apologies, they’ve managed to bring their documentary to the public.
It’s called Christmas in Darfur, though it could be called Lip Service. And because that’s so, I thought it would be a perfect fit for Big Hollywood. The introductory segment features some of the heroic exploits of actors and musicians in order to throw into relief the puny efforts of determined regular people to try to make a difference. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll come forcibly to the conclusion that only celebrities and high-profile policy wonks and UN diplomats are capable of focusing the world’s attention on such a problem in a way that will make any difference at all. (more…)
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