Endorsements
Emotional and challenging, the Darfur Diaries documentary and book have struck a deep cord within people who have seen or read them. Below are some statements of support from well known artists, social justice activists, and political leaders.
From Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple
“In these hard times we must accept help from wherever we can find it. The dignity of the Darfurian people is such a help. It reminds us of who we are and what inner stability we might aspire to as humans, no matter our circumstance. We must return this help to us by seeing Darfurians protected, safe, returned to their lands, their gardens, their animals, their wells and fields. Their schools! Do not resist seeing and reading their story, thinking it another violent assault on the heart. It is rather a gentle if persistent knock upon the door of every living human soul. Brother, sister, we are still here, holding this space for you, for humanity, are you still there? I left the book and the film feeling a great deal more hope for us all.”
From Larry Cox, Executive Director, Amnesty International, USA
“The Darfuri men and women you meet in this film bear testimony to grave abuses of human rights, yet they maintain hope, strength, resilience.’Darfur Diaries: Message from Home’ is a powerful reminder of the high price people pay when their own government sanctions mass killing, displacement and destruction, and the world waits years to intervene. Watch this film and wait no longer.”
From Ambassador Patterson, former U.S. ambassador to UN
“In the UN Security Council, we have worked to help bring peace to Sudan, yet it is rare that we have the opportunity to go to the field to see the tragedy first-hand. This documentary provides an opportunity for everyone – from diplomats to students – to see how the crisis in Darfur has impacted people in the region. I hope that the powerful images from this film will resonate in hearts and minds to encourage people around the world to work towards peace in Sudan.”
From Deborah Scroggins, author of Emma’s War
“Read this book! It’s the most fresh and engaging account of the Darfur tragedy yet to come out. It’s also the funny, thoughtful story of three young Westerners who try and succeed against all obstacles in reaching the Darfurians and bringing back the story in all its utterly human complexity.”
From Dr. Francis Deng, Director of the SAIS Center for Displacement Studies
Jen Marlowe, Aisha Bain and Adam Shapiro have produced a film that is remarkable in a number of ways. It is a compassionate reflection of a terrible tragedy that has been given a variety of descriptions: genocide, ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity, and many more still to be crafted. It is an objective story told almost exclusively through the voices of the victims, both in Arabic and in local languages, without editorial comments from the filmmakers. It is also a story of a resilient people, who, despite their tragedy, still carry themselves with great dignity, even extraordinary magnanimity, unexpectedly calling for unity and reconciliation with their victimizers. The horrific pictures of the brutalities inflicted upon them alternate with paradoxical smiles, understandably constrained, on the faces of people recounting their tragedy. Last, but certainly not least, it is a record of what highly motivated individuals, represented by a team of young people, can do to draw the attention of the world to a human tragedy and our collective responsibility as a family of humankind to do something about it. I can only say that these young people have done their best and that I hope the world will see, hear, and heed the message.”
From Malik Chaka, House of Representatives for the Subcommittee on Africa
“Darfur Diaries is gripping cinema. The filmmakers skillfully allow the people of the war-torn region of western Sudan to speak for themselves. Women, children, school teachers and rebel soldiers convey Sudanese perspectives and truths that are missing from the network news and daily press. They take you there.”
From Bec Hamilton, Co-founder, Harvard Darfur Action Group
“Darfur Diaries gave our students and faculty a tangible insight into the
reality on the ground in Darfur, which is something that they had not been able
to access through the mainstream media. Having Jen Marlowe there to present the
film was, for many, the first time they have been able to ask questions of
someone who has actually been to Darfur. It was a powerful and confronting
experience that energized activism on our campus.”
From Moran Eizenbaum, student organizer, Brandeis University
“Jen Marlowe’s presentation on Darfur touched my soul. I found myself experiencing the journey through her words.”
From Asmaa Maloul, Conference Chair for the International Students Association at Smith College
“Darfur Diaries: Message from Home is an inspirational documentary that made me see what happened and still happening in Darfur through the eyes and suffering of the children, men and women inside Sudan and outside in the refugee camps. It is a significant documentary because it showed the fear inside the people, the hope in their eyes for a change and the need for help from the rest of the world.”
From Danielle M. Strollo, Chair, Dartmouth Darfur Action Group
“Emotional and true to life, the film was an entirely new perspective on the genocide in Darfur. The characters become important and individual, not merely numbers on a page. The testimonies of the children in Darfur were especially poignant. Bringing a child’s innocence into a conflict adds a degree of sensitivity difficult to communicate with adults. The presentation of the movie was quite insightful. The experience of someone being there and talking to refugees is priceless and is more informed than the testimonies of “experts.” Ms. Marlowe’s experiences and understanding of the conflict contributed to the viewers’ understanding of the complexity of the issue.”
From James Loucky, Professor of Anthropology and Global Studies
“Through the eloquent voices and faces of children and elders, women and men, Darfur Diaries: Message from Home powerfully conveys the anguish but also the hope of Darfur, a place that is little more than a puzzling name for many people. Speaking to unacceptable horror, this incredible film stirs deep response. It motivates action as well as understanding, both of which are critical for ending what is completely unacceptable in this day and age. Filmmaker Jen Marlowe is tremendously effective in providing background and responding to audience questions; faculty and students of human rights and global issues at Western Washington University were unanimous in their praise of the film and following discussion – “it was the most significant and enlightening events of my college years,” said one student.”
Catherine Shornick, graduate student
“I believe you achieved your goal of allowing the people to tell their stories; it was stunning, sensitive, gentle, and provoking. Thank you.”
From Karri Deselm, Education Coordinator, Darfur Peace and Development Association
“The film was amazing- beautifully done, well developed, un-manipulated, raw. I found myself crying at odd moments. I realized the emotional integrity of the film was what made this so different from the emotionally manufactured presentations with which we, as an audience, are often confronted. It is not a manipulated script that is so compelling, but the overall deeper understanding of the psychological, emotional, and physical suffering of the people as they tell their story directly to us. Thank you so much for giving me the chance to view this film.”
