STAND Movie Night Raises Awareness of Genocide
Jonathan Monfiletto
Issue date: 10/9/09 Section: News
The Utica College chapter of STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition held its first movie night of the semester last week, with plans to continue raising awareness of genocide and other human rights issues.
The organization hosted a showing of Darfur Diaries: Message from Home on Tuesday, Sept. 29 in MacFarlane Auditorium. Approximately 20 people attended the movie night.
The documentary was made by three independent filmmakers who snuck themselves into Sudan to make a film about the genocide situation in Darfur, a region in western Sudan.
According to the film, which was released in 2004, the footage shown was the first major coverage of the situation in Darfur. Prior to the film, the news media covered it but sugarcoated the crisis and gave inaccurate statistics and information.
The film was shot in October and November of 2004 in northern Darfur and features residents in Darfur speaking about their experience living amongst the horror and destruction brought among them by the Sudanese government.
The film shows deserted villages in the area, with not a single person living in these villages after the residents were pushed out and made to live in refugee camps. Footage of military attacks and atrocities is also on display in the documentary.
According to the documentary, the genocide in Darfur is being carried out by the Janjaweed, a Sudanese tribe supported by the national government. Omar Bashir is the president of Sudan and has been in control since 1989.
The people of Darfur formed the Sudanese Liberation Army in response the government-initiated war, and the situation escalated as a result, according to film. The government blamed the SLA for the escalation while stepping up the atrocities.
The end of the film notes that over 400,000 people have died as a result of the situation in Darfur and that the conflict is still going on today.
STAND Vice President Salima Sultana said the group plans to continue fundraising for the Genocide Intervention Network and educating people to raise awareness about genocide and other issues.
"We want to have people come and show interest in our organization and the matter at hand," she said. "We want to get the college more informed about what's happening."
Sultana said the group focuses on genocide conflicts but will also focus on torture and other human rights issues this year. The group also highlights past conflicts in order to give an understanding of present situations.
"Part of our mission is to concentrate on past and present conflicts," she said. "You need to show the past to correlate it to the present."
STAND will host a lecture titled "Torture: What Is It?" on Thursday, Oct. 16 at 4 p.m. in Hubbard 206, with a representative from the United Nations coming in to speak.
The organization will host another movie night, with a film about the Abu-Ghraib prison abuse, on Tuesday, Oct. 20 at 9:30 p.m. in MacFarlane Auditorium. STAND meets on Monday nights at 9 p.m. in Hubbard 202.
The organization hosted a showing of Darfur Diaries: Message from Home on Tuesday, Sept. 29 in MacFarlane Auditorium. Approximately 20 people attended the movie night.
The documentary was made by three independent filmmakers who snuck themselves into Sudan to make a film about the genocide situation in Darfur, a region in western Sudan.
According to the film, which was released in 2004, the footage shown was the first major coverage of the situation in Darfur. Prior to the film, the news media covered it but sugarcoated the crisis and gave inaccurate statistics and information.
The film was shot in October and November of 2004 in northern Darfur and features residents in Darfur speaking about their experience living amongst the horror and destruction brought among them by the Sudanese government.
The film shows deserted villages in the area, with not a single person living in these villages after the residents were pushed out and made to live in refugee camps. Footage of military attacks and atrocities is also on display in the documentary.
According to the documentary, the genocide in Darfur is being carried out by the Janjaweed, a Sudanese tribe supported by the national government. Omar Bashir is the president of Sudan and has been in control since 1989.
The people of Darfur formed the Sudanese Liberation Army in response the government-initiated war, and the situation escalated as a result, according to film. The government blamed the SLA for the escalation while stepping up the atrocities.
The end of the film notes that over 400,000 people have died as a result of the situation in Darfur and that the conflict is still going on today.
STAND Vice President Salima Sultana said the group plans to continue fundraising for the Genocide Intervention Network and educating people to raise awareness about genocide and other issues.
"We want to have people come and show interest in our organization and the matter at hand," she said. "We want to get the college more informed about what's happening."
Sultana said the group focuses on genocide conflicts but will also focus on torture and other human rights issues this year. The group also highlights past conflicts in order to give an understanding of present situations.
"Part of our mission is to concentrate on past and present conflicts," she said. "You need to show the past to correlate it to the present."
STAND will host a lecture titled "Torture: What Is It?" on Thursday, Oct. 16 at 4 p.m. in Hubbard 206, with a representative from the United Nations coming in to speak.
The organization will host another movie night, with a film about the Abu-Ghraib prison abuse, on Tuesday, Oct. 20 at 9:30 p.m. in MacFarlane Auditorium. STAND meets on Monday nights at 9 p.m. in Hubbard 202.
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