Academy Award-winning filmmaker brings ‘Darfur Now’ to UF

The Documentary Institute hosted Academy Award-winning filmmaker Mark Harris, who showed his newest documentary, “Darfur Now” on campus.

“Darfur Now” premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and opened Friday in New York and Los Angeles. The documentary, which was also screened at the UN and for Congress, will open in 41 cities by mid-November.

“I have a feeling it’s going to be nominated for an Academy Award,” says Documentary Institute Co-Director Churchill Roberts.

The film, which explores the tribal and ethnic conflict in the Sudanese region of Darfur, presents a story of hope in the midst of a crisis. “Darfur Now” follows Don Cheadle (“Crash”) and five others as they work to bring peace and justice to the ailing nation. The film aims to raise awareness about the issue around the world.

“I wanted people to emerge from the theaters aware of what’s happening in the Sudan and motivated to get involved in working to end this terrible humanitarian crisis,” says Harris, a Harvard graduate.

Harris is a film and TV production professor at the University of Southern California. He has won three Academy Awards, including best documentary for the Holocaust films, “The Long Way Home” and “Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport.”

This is Harris’ second visit to UF. Besides showing “Darfur Now,” he spoke with Documentary Institute students, and watched and critiqued their work.

The institute is part of UF’s College of Journalism and Communications, a national leader in the professional education of future journalists and other communications practitioners. Besides documentary, its other graduate-level programs include science/health communication, media law, political communication and international communication.

Posted: November 13, 2007
Category: College News