Sand and Sorrow

"...punctuated with gruesome photos...[but maintains] a controlled sense of emotional indignation.  Jay Weissberg, Variety

Editor's Note Over 100,000 have died, and millions more have been pushed from their homes by the Sudanese government. What led to the humanitarian crisis in Darfur? And where does it end? Narrated by George Clooney, this maddening documentary from HBO explores the ethnic tensions that led to the tragedy and follows peacekeeping troops as they attempt to restore order under perilous conditions. Drawing striking parallels to the genocide in Rwanda, SAND AND SORROW lays bare the tepid international response to the bloodshed, and what can still be done to right the wrongs of the past.

	Alexandre Naufel - Cinematographer
	Barack Obama - Featuring
	Brad Kaplan - Producer
	Elie Wiesel - Featuring
	George Clooney - Executive Producer
	George Clooney - Featuring
	Paul Freedman - Director
	Paul Freedman - Writer
	Paul Freedman - Editor
	Samantha Power - Featuring

Ultimate DVD
4 stars out of 5 -- "Not one for the fainthearted, but an event of such global tragedy really deserves your attention." 05/01/2008 p.96

Variety 8 of 10
Perhaps it will take a Michael Moore to ignite appropriate public outrage over the genocide in Darfur, but until then, docu helmer Paul Freedman's "Sand and Sorrow" will help fill the bill. Narrated and co-exec produced by George Clooney, the pic may not organize its information especially well, but with subject matter like this, structure seems less important than getting the message across. Combining interviews with campaigners, commentators and people on the ground, the docu seems best pitched for small screens and the kinds of school groups that have taken up Darfur as their cause...Pulitzer Prize winner Samantha Power is particularly good at cutting through the rhetoric, explaining how the debate was merely a diversion from action. A small civilian peacekeeping force posted to the region is allowed merely to observe, not protect, reducing them to straightjacketed witnesses to the rampage..."Sand and Sorrow" is punctuated with gruesome photos showing corpses horrifically disfigured and villages burned to the ground, meant to shock the viewer into action. As written, Clooney's narration begins a bit portentously, but settles into an appropriately earnest explication of the situation, calibrating disbelief with a controlled sense of emotional indignation. - Jay Weissberg