Darwin's Nightmare

Darwin's Nightmare was a film that documented the harsh living conditions in Tanzania, and the social and political influences that make it difficult for many people living there to have food to eat or a place to call home. The film exposes issues from starvation due to citizen's inability to afford the country's main export: the Nile Perch. The film shows that there is not a lack of food in the country, but a lack of money to pay for it. The film also looks at issues such as AIDS, prostitution and homelessness. There are a lot of women in Tanzania that have to resort to prostitution at an early age to make ends meat. Their biggest customers are fishermen who take the Nile Perch to Europe. The AIDS epidemic is running wild in Tanzania where safe sex is not something that people are very educated about, and so the disease is spread at an amazing rate. Adults die from the disease, leaving their children orphaned, and often suffering from the disease as well, untreated.
The Rebecca Keegan article, Can A Film Change the World? talks about how many movies have made a difference in society, but it is rare. Most movies don't really make a huge impact on the way that people live. The article also says that a lot of the time, the audience for films that deal with serious issues, such as Darwin's Nightmare, are being watched by people who are already more likely to care about these issues. It is less likely for a 'non converted' person to watch these kinds of film to be changed after seeing them.
The B. Ruby Rich article focuses on Sauper himself as a person and as a filmmaker. He talks about how when you picture this man, who made such a depressing and informative film, you imagine someone who is unhappy himself. Sauper turns out to be the complete opposite. He is a normal person who enjoys life, he just chooses to make films that focus on serious topics. It is interesting that fisheries and Tanzanian government sees the film as an assault on the way life goes on in the country. The fisheries are not happy that he interviewed their night watchman, rather than a spokes person. But that is why this film was so powerful.
In the Boris Trbic article, he talks about how the approach that Sauper took in making this film was more effective than a blatant call to action, politically charged film because it is more relatable. He focuses on the problems, more concerned about informing the viewer than trying to rally them into extreme political action.
I really admire the way that this film was made. I agree with the Boris Trbic article, in that this documentary was more powerful because it wasn't trying to force any specific kind of reaction from its viewers. That is what is so obnoxious about Peta ads and things of that nature that are all about trying to get people to do something. They are telling you there is only one way to react to this new information, and you have to call this number and vote this way or that way or whatever. I think that this sort of film is really great because it allows the viewer to react to the information in the way that seems most effective to them, even if they don't do anything at all.
Possible discussion topics: Do you think there is any way to help this situation? It seems like there are so many problems going on in this area, where do we start? Did you know about this topic before you saw the film?

New Terminology:
Magnum opus (plural: magna opera, also opus magnum / opera magna), from the Latin meaning "great work",[1] refers to the largest, and perhaps the best, greatest, most popular, or most renowned achievement of a writer, artist, or composer.