Darfur documentary is a real eye-opener

THE DEVIL CAME ON HORSEBACK — *** 1/2 — Documentary feature on the Darfur genocide; with subtitles (African and Middle Eastern dialects); not rated, probable PG-13 (violence, gore, slurs)

Like the best art, documentary films can provoke strong emotions — and "The Devil Came on Horseback" is definitely provocative.

This documentary looks at the continuing extermination of black Africans in Darfur, located in the western region of Sudan. It's a subject — and a film — sure to stir up debate about U.S. foreign policy and military activities.

But no matter how you feel about those things, there's no debating that the subject matter is presented very well.

The horseback-riding "devils" referred to be the title are members of the Janjaweed, nomadic militias roaming throughout Darfur. According to eyewitnesses and survivors, the Janjaweed has wiped out entire villages, raping the women and often burning villagers alive.

One of the witnesses to these atrocities is Brian Steidle, a former U.S. Marine who volunteered to be an unarmed civilian "observer" in Sudan in 2004. At the time, this was cause for optimism in the war-torn country, as a cease-fire had been reached between opposing Arab forces among the north and black Christians in the south.

But the killings increased in Darfur, where thousands were forced to flee to the neighboring, already impoverished country of Chad. And Steidle got close enough to photograph the aftermath of the Darfur genocide. A year later he returned to the United States, where he shared his stories and photographs with the New York Times and whoever else would listen.

Co-directors Ricki Stern and Anne Sundberg have a great narrator in Steidle. Seeing someone like him get frustrated by the seeming lack of action taken by the U.S. government and by the United Nations is eye-opening.

The filmmakers also make a credible case for the culpability of the Sudanese government in Khartoum, as well as the Chinese government, which buys about 80 percent of the African country's oil resources.

"The Devil Came on Horseback" is not rated but would probably receive a PG-13 for disturbing and sometimes bloody violent imagery (photographs of mutilated bodies), graphic descriptions of killings, and slurs based on race and nationality. Running time: 85 minutes.

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E-mail: jeff@desnews.com