The Devil Came On Horseback Screening Millburn High School

On Wednesday, December 5 at 7 p.m., in the Millburn High School Auditorium, the Millburn and Summit High Schools’  Help Darfur Now chapters are hosting a community screening of the award-winning documentary about the crisis in Darfur, €œThe Devil Came on Horseback.

 

The screening will be followed by a forum with a panel of experts, including Brian Steidle, whose experiences in Sudan were the inspiration for the film. Also on the panel will be Annie Sundberg, co-director of the film and Olivier Bercault from Human Rights Watch.

  

This powerful picture, released in 2007, is an International Film Circuit Release of a Break Thru Films production in association with Global Grassroots & Three Generations. It exposes the genocide in Darfur, Sudan as seen through the eyes of Captain Steidle a former U.S. marine who served as an unarmed military observer with the African Union from 2004 to 2005.

 

Brian spent over a year in Sudan and six months as an official military observer in Darfur, with military intelligence and access to parts of the country that no journalists could penetrate and while there documented the evidence and captured proof of an Arab government bent on destroying its black African citizens. The film cinematically details the events and causes that shape this crisis. In her July 2007 New York Times review Manohla Dargis said, €œThis is a documentary that demands to be seen as soon as possible and by as many viewers as possible.

 

Millburn High School junior Sarah Van Tassel, whose aunt is the films co-director and panelist, Annie Sundberg and senior Claire Arkin, President of Millburn Highs Help Darfur Now Chapter, have coordinated this special event to bring a wider awareness of this crisis both to the student population and to the community at large. Along with the Summit Save Darfur Now clubs President Shweta Mukesh, their advisor Lily Arkin who is also a Millburn resident and Rebecca Spense of Summits Darfur Genocide Rescue Committee of Summit, they have found a wide group of underwriters for the event from the local community.

 

To cover the costs of licensing, speaker fees and other incidentals the following groups have provided sponsorship:  Help Darfur Now Chapters of Millburn and Summit High Schools; Community Relations Committee of United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ; Darfur Genocide Rescue Committee of Summit; Essex County Coalition for Darfur; Millburn/Short Hills Clergy Association; Montclair Essex County Coalition for Darfur; New Jersey Responds to the Crisis in Darfur Coalition; Signal Graphics; Summit Interfaith Council; and the  Unitarian Church of Summit.

 

2007 is estimated to be the deadliest year yet in Darfur and this is an opportunity for local residents and students to understand this ongoing crisis through the film and by hearing about it firsthand from those who have been there.  The film is graphic in content and parents should use discretion. The movie may not be appropriate for younger audiences.

 

Tickets are available in advance or at the door for a suggested donation of $10/students and seniors and $15/adult. They may be purchased at the Millburn High School auditorium on the night of the event. Tickets may also be purchased in advance at the Unitarian Church in Summit, 4 Waldron Avenue, (at Springfield Ave.), Summit, NJ, 908-273-3245.  Tickets are also available through the Save Darfur Now Clubs at each of the schools.  Please call 973-564-9210.

 

All proceeds beyond film screening, speaker and promotional fees will be donated to Global Grassroots, a registered 501(c) (3) to support their involvement in building a school and library in the Darfur refugee camps as they strive to create infra-structures to ensure the next generations future.  To learn more about the movie and Global Grassroots visit the following websites: www.globalgrassroots.org and www.thedevilcameonhorseback.com. For more information about the event please call 973-564-9210.