Hubert Sauper's We Come As Friends is an absorbing documentary about the human phenomenon known as Colonization,which has ravaged the continent of Africa for centuries. Focusing on the modern day events currently happening in Sudan, which has seen a country divided due primarily to outside investors from the United States and China, We Come As Friends is observant study of a country steeped in its tribal past that is simultaneously being pulled towards the future at a destructive pace for the indigenous people. We Come As Friends is a film that perfectly captures the emotional and physical detachment which foreign investors have when going to Africa for natural resources. To many foreign investors Sudan is just another piece of land which can be exploited, as these corporations divvy up sections of land on a map with blatant disregard for the locals, routinely slicing up distinct tribal cultures in the process. In Sudan's case, the foreign investors main focus is in regard to the oil fields, which has lead to the country being split into two distinct entities, North Sudan & South Sudan, each serving the respective, distinct interests of the United States and China. The leaders of these new defined countries are essentially controlled by the foreign investors, and Hubert Sauper's film paints a convincing portrait of how this type of outside influence is the main reason why this region of the world has struggled to develop. Through empowering leaders which have little disregard for the overall growth and prosperity of their country, the introduction of capitalism into this culture through these corrupt leaders has hurt the country more than helped it, with greed running rampant among officials while foreign investors continue to show more interest in the quick buck than any type of long term commitment. While there have been quite a few films about colonialism, We Come As Friends is one of the more balanced films on the subject i've seen, as it fully acknowledges the positive aspects which foreign investment can bring. The film argues that these investors need to have an interest in the long term development of Sudan, showing how unfortunately many of them are more interested in the quick dollar, not willing to take on the long term investment which would lead to prosperity for both the indigenous people and the corporations bottom-line. Full of fascinating observations about race, greed, religious oppression, and man's overall desire to own everything it can, Hubert Sauper's We Come As Friends is a film that understands there are no easy answers to this complex and troubling practices of colonialism, offering up far more questions than answers in this observant and detailed examination.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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