Copyright 2026, Documentary Educational Resources https://store.der.org/brecke-mark-c927all.aspx Tue, 22 Sep 2026 22:25:43 GMT 60 Nexternal RSS 2.0 en-us https://store.der.org/they-turned-our-desert-into-fire-p321.aspx Product321 Mon, 27 Aug 2018 08:57:00 GMT <div style="float:left"><a class="url" href="https://store.der.org/they-turned-our-desert-into-fire-p321.aspx"><img src="//cdn.nexternal.com/der/images/they-turned-our-desert-into-fire.jpg" alt="They Turned Our Desert Into Fire" border="0" hspace="3"></a></div><span class="riRssTitle"><a href="https://store.der.org/they-turned-our-desert-into-fire-p321.aspx">They Turned Our Desert Into Fire</a></span><br><a href="https://store.der.org/they-turned-our-desert-into-fire-p321.aspx">Buy Now:</a> <span color="#990000"><b>$320.00</b></span> <br /><br /><div>Reporting the devastation, forced displacement, and genocide in Darfur should be a story with daily coverage. The mere mention of the word "Darfur" should set off a passionate exchange, or at least the question, "What can be done?" Unfortunately, the people of Darfur struggle with a problem common to so many victimized by geopolitical realities: how to overcome the willful indifference of powerful government and media interests who find their story unimportant or merely inconvenient.&nbsp;<div><br /></div><div>With images and first-hand accounts, filmmaker Mark Brecke shares his experience of the Darfur crisis with Amtrak train passengers journeying eastward on a three day trip to Washington D.C. Their reactions, interwoven with hard facts and expert opinion, raise the central questions in <i>They Turned Our Desert Into Fire: </i>why does the public not understand the severity of this crisis, and how can the world continue to do nothing?&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>In addition to the film and a slideshow of Brecke's photographs, this DVD also contains the short film <i>War as a Second Language</i> (27 min, 2002). Mark Brecke culled from 15 years of newsreels, documentaries, and raw footage of the Vietnam War to create an audio track which he then juxtaposed with moving and still images he shot in Vietnam and Cambodia in 1995. Tourists replace soldiers and the audio design becomes a haunting and evocative narrative about the history and legacies of war.</div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote style="margin: 0 0 0 40px; border: none; padding: 0px;"><div><div>“One of the best films I have seen all year.”</div><div>&nbsp;— Sara Carden, Producer, CNN International / Inside Africa</div><div><br /></div><div>“The most sincere film on Darfur today.”&nbsp;</div><div>— Jennifer Clibbon, Producer, CBC News, Our World</div></div><div><br /></div></blockquote><hr><b>SELECTED SCREENINGS &amp; AWARDS</b></div><div>Addis International Film Festival, Ethiopia, 2010</div><div><div>Santa Cruz Film Festival, CA, 2009</div><div>National Geographic Theater, Washington DC, 2009</div></div><div>South American Seminar on Promotion of Equality, Bahia, Brazil, 2009</div><div><div><i>Official Selection</i>, Sarasota Film Festival, 2008</div><div>Global Peace Film Festival, 2008</div><div><i>Best Feature</i>,&nbsp;Human Rights, Artivist Film Festival, 2008</div><div>BendFilm, 2008</div><div><i>Best Documentary</i>, São Paulo International Film Festival, 2007</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div><br /><br />Visit <a href="https://store.der.org/brecke-mark-c927all.aspx">Brecke, Mark</a> to see additional products in this category.</div>