The Devil Came on Horseback (2007)

Directors:

Ricki Stern
Anne Sundberg

Writers:

Anne Sundberg (written by) &
Ricki Stern (written by)

Release Date:

11 April 2008 (UK)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

At age 27, Brian Steidle became a monitor with the African Union in Darfur, Sudan. He was completely unprepared for what he would see.

Plot:

A documentary that exposes the genocide raging in Darfur, Sudan as seen through the eyes of a former U.S. marine who returns home to make the story public.

Plot Keywords:

Darfur | Sudan | Genocide | African Union | Ex Marine

Awards:

5 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Nicholas Kristof	...	Himself - Columnist, New York Times
Brian Steidle	...	Himself

Directed by
Ricki Stern
Anne Sundberg		(as Annie Sundberg)

Writing credits
Anne Sundberg		(written by) (as Annie Sundberg) &
Ricki Stern		(written by)

Produced by
Jed Alpert	....	associate producer
Omar Amanat	....	executive producer
Ted Greenberg	....	associate producer
Eileen Haag	....	producer
Mette Hoffman Meyer	....	executive producer: TV2-Danmark (as Mette Hoffmann Meyer)
Seth Keal	....	associate producer
Ira Lechner	....	producer
Cristina Ljungberg	....	producer
Jerry Risius	....	field producer: Chad
Ricki Stern	....	producer
Anne Sundberg	....	producer (as Annie Sundberg)
Gretchen Wallace	....	producer
Jane Wells	....	producer

Original Music by
Paul Brill

Cinematography by
Phil Cox
Tim Hetherington
William Rexer		(as William Rexer II)
Jerry Risius
Anne Sundberg		(as Annie Sundberg)
John Keith Wasson

Film Editing by
Joey Grossfield

Production Management
Katie Brown	....	production manager

Sound Department
Brad Bergbom	....	sound recordist
Leslie Bloom	....	foley artist
Rusty Dunn	....	sound designer
Tom Efinger	....	sound re-recording mixer
Tom Efinger	....	sound supervisor
Ivo Hanak	....	sound
John Moros	....	sound editor
James Nichols	....	sound consultant: Dolby

Visual Effects by
Yorgo Alexopoulos	....	visual effects
Joshua Dotson	....	motion graphics assistant
Amber Kusmenko	....	motion graphics assistant

Camera and Electrical Department
Jason Blalock	....	additional cinematographer
Marcus Bleasdale	....	photographer: black & white
Leo Buurman	....	still photographer
John Foster	....	additional cinematographer
Patrick Jackson	....	additional cinematographer
Ralf Oberti	....	additional cinematographer
PJ Raval	....	additional cinematographer
Jerry Risius	....	cinematographer: Chad
Brian Steidle	....	still photographer
Ricki Stern	....	still photographer: New York City
Martijn van Broekhuizen	....	cinematographer: Netherlands
John Keith Wasson	....	cinematographer: Rwanda

Editorial Department
Will Cox	....	colorist
Will Cox	....	on-line editor
Carter Gunn	....	assistant on-line editor
Riva Marker	....	additional editor: trailer
Jordan Montminy	....	additional editor: trailer
Sandy Patch	....	assistant on-line editor
Kristin Rodriguez	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Catherine Bent	....	musician: cello
Catherine Bent	....	orchestra producer
Paul Brill	....	score mixer
Paul Brill	....	score recordist
Elise Carter	....	musician: flute, alto flute
Claudia Chopek	....	musician: violin
Andy Cotton	....	musician: double bass
Nicole Federici	....	musician: viola
Alejandra Mahave	....	musician: violin
Katie Scheele	....	musician: English horn
Robert L. Smith	....	score mixer
Robert L. Smith	....	score recordist
Ian Stynes	....	music editor

Other crew
Hani Alam	....	translator
Yorgo Alexopoulos	....	title designer
Abdellatif Eljaziri	....	translator
Winston Emano	....	publicist
David Magdael	....	publicist
Casey McDonald	....	production assistant
Mara McFalls	....	production assistant
Ryan Murdock	....	designer: web
Douglas Ruhl	....	source: satellite images
Benjamin Rutkowski	....	researcher (as Ben Rutkowski)
Rachelle Sarfati	....	production assistant
Nick Schonfeld	....	production coordinator: Netherlands
Brian Steidle	....	story consultant
Anne Stulz	....	publicist
Freddy Umutanguha	....	translator: Rwanda
Gretchen Wallace	....	production coordinator
Steven Wallace	....	publicist
Alexander Wells	....	production assistant: Rwanda
Amanda Wilder	....	production associate

Production Companies

• Break Thru Films

Distributors

• International Film Circuit (2007) (USA) (theatrical)
• Polyband (2008) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Dogwoof Pictures (2008) (UK) (all media)
• Roco Films (2007) (Non-USA) (all media)

Other Companies

• Global Grassroots  in association with
• International Film Circuit  releasing agency
• Three Generations  in association with

Also Known As:

Runtime:

USA:85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Arabic

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16

Filming Locations:

Sudan

Company:

Break Thru Films

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Late Show with David Letterman: Joan Rivers/Bill Burr/Steve Winwood (#17.173)" (2010)

Consciousness-raising documentary

In the early 2000s, a cease fire was declared between two warring factions in Sudan (the Arab Muslims in the north and the non-Arabs in the south), effectively bringing to an end the bloody civil war that had ripped that nation apart for over two decades (though the peace treaty itself was not officially signed until 2005). Former Marine Captain Brian Steidle went to the country as part of a team sponsored by the African Union to help monitor the cease fire. However, while he was there, a new conflict broke out, this time in Darfur, the far western region of Sudan that is largely inhabited by tribal blacks. As soon as the cease fire was in place, militias and death squads, backed by the Arab government in Khartoum, began a well-coordinated and systematic campaign to brutally terrorize and slaughter the inhabitants of that region. Whole villages and refugee camps were wiped out, their people mowed down, burned alive or left to die of starvation, all for being black. Steidle - sans weapons and armed only with a still camera, a video recorder, a great deal of personal courage and a spirit of righteous indignation - spent much of that time traveling through the countryside compiling a photographic account of the atrocities. "The Devil Came on Horseback" is that account.

With this work, filmmakers Ricki Stren and Anne Sundberg clearly hope to rouse the outside world from its lethargy regarding this tragedy. Steidle's heartbreaking and compelling eyewitness testimony to Man's-inhumanity-to-Man is placed in direct opposition to the lip-service platitudes and hollow assurances he receives from the fiddle-playing leaders in the Bush administration and the U.N. when he confronts them with the evidence. First, there is the resistance on the part of the world to declare that what was happening in Darfur is a "genocide" at all - then, after the admission, an intransigent refusal to step in and take any kind of action to halt the holocaust. Perhaps the most heartrending moments come from interviews with survivors living in refugee camps in neighboring Chad, and from reflective comments made by Steidle himself as he struggles with the enormity of what he's seen and experienced and battles against the frustrating reluctance on the part of those who could actually do something to ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING.

After all the horrors it shows us, after all the inspiring images of one caring man making a difference in the world, the movie turns the spotlight directly onto the viewers, challenging them to take an active part in helping to end this human tragedy. Thus, the movie concludes with a list of websites and telephone numbers where all concerned people can go to find out more about what they themselves can do to have an impact. It's a challenge well worth taking up.