The Empire in Africa (2006)

"The Empire in Africa" is a courageous examination of a tragic and complex topic, the civil war in Sierra Leone, its propaganda-driven portrayal in the international media, the global commercial interests at stake, the regional and international contribution to the continued violence and the effects on the civilian population of war and poverty in a country that is extremely wealthy in natural resources. (See, I said it was complex.)

The events, the various parties and issues could easily have become hopelessly confused to a viewer --so much of the film's success is that its many interviews with people from all sides and a remarkable collection of footage from various sources, is edited so that it that manages to tell the story in a clear way.

It is guaranteed to arouse the viewer's indignation at the role of the rest of the world (including other African countries as well as Western states such as the UK, France and the USA, exercising political and economic influence through bilateral relations and through the United Nations) in prolonging the war in this small country.

It is also an indictment of the international news media for accepting the easy answers and official stories and not digging deeper for the truth.

Warning: The film has some very gory images; however I don't feel it was gratuitous but necessary to tell the truth of a story that has been much misrepresented.

Some of the most disturbing footage was of violence by regional troops aligned with the government, which Director/Producer Phillipe Diaz revealed (during the Q & A after the screening at Slamdance Film Festival) had been given to him by a Sierra Leonian government official who wanted the truth revealed, although it clearly meant he had to flee his country forever.

M. Diaz, who has faced a good deal of pressure not to show this film, and who himself cannot return to Sierra Leone or to Nigeria, had to disguise the true focus of the film he was making from the authorities as long as possible, finally handing over a set of 'dummy' tapes and smuggling the real ones out of the country.

VHS & DVD
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