Passionate about what he is lobbying for—bringing peace to Sudan--Tomo has been a witness of genocides in the Nuba mountains since 1979. He has seen the war, the death of the Fur--the largest ethnic group in Darfur--meaning the land of the Fur.
The film, an eyewitness account of the war, consists of footages captured with over 1,000 spy cameras carried around by volunteers in the war region.[break]
Why did you decide to use spy cameras?
I had been filming in Sudan, in Nuba, Blue Nile and Darfur since 1979. In 2006, I was arrested in Darfur by the Sudanese military security and sentenced to two years jail on charges of espionage and false reporting. Luckily, I only served two months and was released but during my time in prison with Darfur rebels, refugees and prisoners, I stumbled upon the idea of working with spy cameras to bring out the real truth of the genocide. A woman said to me, “‘Stay with us and help us because they fear your camera,’ so I went back with six cameras, satellite phones and computers to report on the seven million civilians in the war area and the indigenous African tribe, approximately 10,000-30,000 of whom were exterminated the last year alone.
Photo: Bijaya Gajmer
What in particular are you trying to show in the film?
I was the only foreigner walking with the 1,20,000 refugees for 3 weeks from Blue Nile to South Sudan. I have tried to capture everything I could during that time. A seven minutes report, which is available on my website (www.tomokriznar.com), shows children living in caves without food, water and other necessities because they are the only safe places with the entire region at war. Now, we have over 500 volunteers with more than 1,000 spy cameras, digital cameras who are capturing footages and sending it out to medias, foreign governments so they know what is going on and can help stop this inhumanity.
What sort of reaction have you been getting for this film?
I made this film to inform, to convince and to channel the truth to medias all over the world. The genocide in Sudan was much talked in the past but now the interest has shifted to other parts of the world. I made this film so that when people see it, they understand the severity of the situation and be more willing to donate. I want to capture the war in Darfur and Blue Nile with complete video surveillance with aerial cameras. There is so much hypocrisy from the authorities and so much struggle among the people in Sudan that needs the attention of the world. The war in these three regions represent heights of brutality. I want people to know that United Nations Missions in Sudan (UNMIS) left Sudan three weeks after the war began last year and has not returned and that the Sudanese government is using threats to stop reporting about the war.
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