Conflict in Sudan Explored in WE COME AS FRIENDS by Dir. Hubert Sauper

Guest Bio

At the moment when the Sudan, the continent’s biggest country, is being divided into two nations, an old “civilizing” pathology re-emerges – that of colonialism, the clash of empires, and new episodes of bloody (and holy) wars over land and resources. The director of DARWIN’S NIGHTMARE takes us on this voyage in his tiny, self-made, tin and canvas flying machine. He leads us into most improbable locations and into people’s thoughts and dreams, in both stunning and heartbreaking ways. Chinese oil workers, UN peacekeepers, Sudanese warlords, and American evangelists ironically weave common ground in this documentary, a complex, profound and humorous cinematic endeavor.

Academy Award® nominated director Hubert Sauper’s WE COME AS FRIENDS is a modern odyssey, a dizzying, science fiction-like journey into the heart of Africa. At the moment when the Sudan, the continent’s biggest country, is being divided into two nations, an old “civilizing” pathology re-emerges – that of colonialism, the clash of empires, and new episodes of bloody (and holy) wars over land and resources. The director of DARWIN’S NIGHTMARE takes us on this voyage in his tiny, self-made, tin and canvas flying machine. He leads us into most improbable locations and into people’s thoughts and dreams, in both stunning and heartbreaking ways. Chinese oil workers, UN peacekeepers, Sudanese warlords, and American evangelists ironically weave common ground in this documentary, a complex, profound and humorous cinematic endeavor.

Hubert was born in Kitzbühel, Tyrolian Alps. Having spent his childhood in Austria, he then lived in Great Britain, Italy, the USA, Tanzania, Congo and South Sudan. His “homebase” since the mid 90s is France. He studied film directing partly in Vienna and Paris (Univ. of Performing Arts, Univ. de Paris VIII.) and graduated with excellence B. A. (Mag. art.). Hubert gives conferences and master classes in film schools and universities all over the world. His socio-political and poetic films have been winning over 50 major international prizes, among them the awards at Venice Film Festival, Berlinale, Sundance, NY, the French, Austrian and European Academy Award, and an Oscar nomination for best documentary. As an actor he played in several shorts and two feature length films: IN THE CIRCLE OF THE IRIS (Dir. Peter Patzak, with Philippe Léotard) and BLUE DISTANCE (Dir. Peter Schreiner).