Darwin's Nightmare
Encyclopedia
Darwin's Nightmare is a 2004
French-Belgian-Austrian documentary film
written and directed by Hubert Sauper
, dealing with the environmental and social effects of the fishing industry around Lake Victoria
in Tanzania
. It premiered at the 2004 Venice Film Festival
, and was nominated for the 2006 Academy Award for Documentary Feature
at the 78th Academy Awards
. The Boston Globe called it "the year's best documentary about the animal world."
cargo plane landing on Mwanza
airfield in Tanzania
, near Lake Victoria
. The plane came from Europe to ship back processed fillets of Nile Perch
, a species of fish introduced into Lake Victoria that has caused the extinction of hundreds of endemic species.
Through interviews with the Russian and Ukrainian plane crew, local factory owners, guards, prostitutes, fishermen and other villagers, the film discusses the effects of the introduction of the Nile perch to Lake Victoria, how it has affected the ecosystem
and economy of the region. The film also dwells at length on the dichotomy between European aid which is being funneled into Africa
on the one hand, and the unending flow of munitions and weapons from European arms dealers on the other. Arms and munitions are often flown in on the same planes which transport the Nile perch fillets to European consumers, feeding the very conflicts which the aid was sent to remedy. As Dima, the radio engineer of the plane crew, says later on in the film: the children of Angola receive guns for Christmas, the children of Europe receive grapes. The appalling living and working conditions of the indigenous people, in which basic sanitation is completely absent and many children turn to drugs and prostitution, is covered in great depth; because the Nile perch fish is farmed commercially, all the prime fillets are sold to European supermarkets, leaving the local people to survive on the festering carcasses of the gutted fish.
At one point in the film a local preacher, asked whether he encourages condom use to prevent AIDS
, responds that he does not address using condoms because having pre-marital sex is an act of sin and against God's law. Therefore he preferred to preach to people not to have sex before marriage. As to why the local fish can't be made available to the obviously malnourished African children nearby, one fish processing factory manager explains "it is too expensive".
2004 in film
The year 2004 in film involved some significant events. Major releases of sequels took place. It included blockbuster films like Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Passion of the Christ, Meet the Fockers, Blade: Trinity, Spider-Man 2, Alien vs. Predator, Kill Bill Vol...
French-Belgian-Austrian documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
written and directed by Hubert Sauper
Hubert Sauper
Hubert Sauper is a documentary filmmaker best known for the highly controversial Darwin's Nightmare which was nominated for an Academy Award....
, dealing with the environmental and social effects of the fishing industry around Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. The lake was named for Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, by John Hanning Speke, the first European to discover this lake....
in Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
. It premiered at the 2004 Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
, and was nominated for the 2006 Academy Award for Documentary Feature
Academy Award for Documentary Feature
The Academy Award for Documentary Feature is among the most prestigious awards for documentary films.- Winners and nominees:Following the Academy's practice, films are listed below by the award year...
at the 78th Academy Awards
78th Academy Awards
The 78th Academy Awards honored the best films of 2005 and were held on March 5, 2006, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California. They were hosted by The Daily Show host Jon Stewart, with Tom Kane making his first appearance as the show's announcer...
. The Boston Globe called it "the year's best documentary about the animal world."
Overview
The film opens with a Soviet made Ilyushin Il-76Ilyushin Il-76
The Ilyushin Il-76 is a multi-purpose four-engined strategic airlifter designed by Ilyushin design bureau. It was first planned as a commercial freighter in 1967. Intended as a replacement for the Antonov An-12, the Il-76 was designed for delivering heavy machinery to remote, poorly-serviced areas...
cargo plane landing on Mwanza
Mwanza
Mwanza is a mid-sized port city on the southern shores of Lake Victoria in northwestern Tanzania. With an urban population of 1.2 million and a metropolitan population of 2 million, it is Tanzania's second largest city, following Dar es Salaam and ahead of other major Tanzanian cities of Arusha,...
airfield in Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
, near Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. The lake was named for Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, by John Hanning Speke, the first European to discover this lake....
. The plane came from Europe to ship back processed fillets of Nile Perch
Nile perch
The Nile perch is a species of freshwaterfish in family Latidae of order Perciformes. It is widespread throughout muchof the Afrotropic ecozone, being native to the Congo, Nile, Senegal, Niger, and Lake Chad, Volta, Lake Turkana and other river basins. It also occurs in the brackish waters of...
, a species of fish introduced into Lake Victoria that has caused the extinction of hundreds of endemic species.
Through interviews with the Russian and Ukrainian plane crew, local factory owners, guards, prostitutes, fishermen and other villagers, the film discusses the effects of the introduction of the Nile perch to Lake Victoria, how it has affected the ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
and economy of the region. The film also dwells at length on the dichotomy between European aid which is being funneled into Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
on the one hand, and the unending flow of munitions and weapons from European arms dealers on the other. Arms and munitions are often flown in on the same planes which transport the Nile perch fillets to European consumers, feeding the very conflicts which the aid was sent to remedy. As Dima, the radio engineer of the plane crew, says later on in the film: the children of Angola receive guns for Christmas, the children of Europe receive grapes. The appalling living and working conditions of the indigenous people, in which basic sanitation is completely absent and many children turn to drugs and prostitution, is covered in great depth; because the Nile perch fish is farmed commercially, all the prime fillets are sold to European supermarkets, leaving the local people to survive on the festering carcasses of the gutted fish.
At one point in the film a local preacher, asked whether he encourages condom use to prevent AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
, responds that he does not address using condoms because having pre-marital sex is an act of sin and against God's law. Therefore he preferred to preach to people not to have sex before marriage. As to why the local fish can't be made available to the obviously malnourished African children nearby, one fish processing factory manager explains "it is too expensive".
Awards
- 2004 Entrevues Film Festival (Entre vues), Audience Award
- 2004 European Film Award for Best Documentary
- 2004 Vienna International Film Festival, Vienna Film Award
- 2005 Thessaloniki Documentary FestivalThessaloniki Documentary FestivalThe Thessaloniki Documentary Festival – Images of the 21st Century is a film festival specialising in documentary films which takes place every March in Thessaloniki and is affiliated with the International Thessaloniki Film Festival.-History:...
, Audience Award - 2005 Angers European First Film FestivalPremiers PlansThe Premiers Plans festival takes place in Angers every year in January. It is dedicated to European first films, and is meant to help new directors meet their audience....
, European Jury Award - 2005 Mexico City International Contemporary Film FestivalFICCOMexico City International Contemporary Film Festival, or FICCO for its initials in Spanish was an annual film festival that began in February 2004 and finished in 2010....
, Audience Award - 2005 Sydney Film FestivalSydney Film FestivalThe Sydney Film Festival is an annual film festival held in the Australian city of Sydney and is held over 12 days in June. The competitive film festival draws international and local attention, with films being showcased in several venues across the city centre and includes features,...
, FIPRESCIFIPRESCIThe International Federation of Film Critics is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world for "the promotion and development of film culture and for the safeguarding of professional interests." It was founded in June 1930 in...
Prize - 2005 Yamagata International Documentary Film FestivalYamagata International Documentary Film FestivalThe Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival is a documentary film festival held biennially in Yamagata, Japan.It was first held in October 1989, which makes it one of the longest running documentary film festivals in the world and the most distinguished such festival in Asia...
, Special Jury Prize and Community Cinema Award - 2006 César AwardCésar AwardThe César Award is the national film award of France, first given out in 1975. The nominations are selected by the members of the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma....
for Best First Work (Meilleur premier film) - 2006 Academy AwardsAcademy AwardsAn Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
Best Documentary Feature nominee
External links
- Darwin's Nightmare official website
- Les ambiguïtés du Cauchemar de Darwin - The ambiguity of Darwin’s Nightmare article at Africultures.net
- Révélations et impasses d’une approche radicale de la mondialisation - Paper by Frédéric Giraut at EspacesTemps.net which assesses the scientific interest of both the movie and the critical book by François Garçon