CA+-+Annotation+3+-+Darwin's+Nightmare

Claudia Anzini Annotation 3 3/1/14 //Darwin’s Nightmare // Word Count: 1,300


 * 1. Title, director, and release year? **

//Darwin’s Nightmare//. Directed by Hubert Sauper. Released 2004.

 **2. What is the central argument or narrative of the film?**

The central argument of this film is the effect of one species on a whole society. The Nile Perch was introduced into Lake Victoria as a scientific experiment, which quickly got out of hand as the Perch killed off all the native fish in the lake. This boom in fish has led to jobs for locals, but poor working conditions and new problems associated with this new money flow. The film also has a hidden message about arms smuggling in Tanzania. As planes come in to Tanzania to pick up the Perch for delivery, they are bringing in arms for the countless wars that are occurring within the country. While this is not the main focus of the film, it is the underlying reason the film was created.


 * 3. How is the argument or narrative made and sustained? How much scientific information is provided, for example? Does the film have emotional appeal? **

To support the arguments being made in the film, it was actually filmed in Tanzania where people involved in every aspect of this fishing industry were interviewed and followed around. The director got right into the heart of the problem and spoke with fishers, factory owners, street children, and even the pilots who transported the fish out of Tanzania. While seeing the aftermath that this science experience has caused first hand does provide some hard evidence, the film was really made with the intent of playing to the viewer’s emotions. A lot of scenes focus on children who live on the streets and have little to eat or women who sell their bodies to the foreign pilots. It even follows one woman who is killed by a pilot during the duration of the film. Overall the film is very dark and gives the viewer a sense of despair with the hopes that someone will feel compelled to enact a change.


 * 4. What sustainability problems does the film draw out; political, legal, economic, technological, media and informational,organizational, educational, behavioral, cultural, or ecological? **

While the underlying message of the film is about arms smuggling in Tanzania, the main theme is the devastation that the introduction of the Nile Perch into Lake Victoria. This huge ecological problem in turn has caused political and economic concerns that are beginning to feed back into the ecological issue. Since the introduction of the Nile Perch into Lake Victoria, all other species have disappeared. With the Nile Perch needing to feed off of smaller fish, this could lead to their collapse if they are not overfished first. Since these fish are so valuable to other countries, it has created a whole new market in Tanzania. This market has still left many people in the streets working for barely enough money to get by, while factory owners are making large sums of money. The exportation of the fish has also caused new political concerns. As fish go out, arms are being smuggled in by pilots to be used in the countless wars that ravage the area. The film also focuses on a political debate about the Nile Perch that gives insight on what action the government is taking to correct the ecological disaster this fish is causing. In the end, these government officials decided that the cash flow from the fish sales benefitted their country more than the harm the fish was doing to the ecosystem.


 * 5. What parts of the film did you find most persuasive and compelling? Why? **

Overall I found most of this film to be persuasive about the destruction that the Nile Perch is causing, not only to the ecosystem of Lake Victoria, but to the livelihood of the people involved with its capture and processing. Unlike most documentaries, the people who were interviewed have first-hand experience with the problems being faced and aren’t giving opinions on subjects that they’ve only read about in books. Hearing these accounts made me feel closer to the subject than I would have, seeing as there was no connection to it before.

 **6. What parts of the film were you not compelled or convinced by? Why?**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">I think the hardest concept for me to grasp during this film was the underlying message of gun smuggling in Tanzania. While I understand the connection between the fish trade and the gun smuggling, I feel like the subject was not present enough for there to be a real impact. If the director had focused on just the fish or just the gun smuggling then both stories would have been more compelling to the viewer. Another option could have been to make this movie into a series, with one focusing on the initial issue, the fish taking over Lake Victoria, and the other film focusing on the arms smuggling as a result of the fish trade.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">7. What audiences does the film best address? Why? **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">This film really targets a wide general audience. No facts are presented within the film that are hard to understand and the emotional appeal that this film goes for can hit home with many people. While the grief of being poverty stricken and fears of impending civil unrest within a country might be lost on people who never had or ever will face these issues, the film does a good job of bringing these issues to the attention of the viewer.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">8. What could have been added to this film to enhance its environmental educational value? **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">This film as it stands is not a great educational tool. It does a good job of addressing the concern that the Nile Perch is destroying Lake Victoria’s ecosystem and the subsequent arms trade that has been flourishing with the international trade of these fish. The problem with this film for viewers is the lack of relevant background information. For viewers who don’t know much about Tanzania’s history and political background, some of the information given to them in the film gets lost in the confusion of issues Tanzania is currently facing.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">9. What kinds of action and points of intervention are suggested by the film? If the film itself does not suggest corrective action, describe actions that you can imagine being effective. **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The film does not really suggest any points of intervention to correct any of the problems that are being addressed. It is apparently clear though that changes need to be made within the government system in Tanzania. Officials are easily bribed by fishing corporations to turn a blind eye to the poverty that is overtaking the people involved in the Perch’s life cycle, which is in turn only hurting the citizens more. Actions that can be taken by viewers are thinking about what they are consuming. If they have access to Nile Perch, they should think about where it came from and how it was sourced. If it came from Lake Victoria, they should reconsider purchasing another type of fish.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">10. What additional information has this film compelled you to seek out? (Provide at least two supporting references.) **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">I've seen this film several times and watching it always leaves me questioning what is being done to fix this problem. Upon investigation, I have learned that the Nile Perch in Lake Victoria has been under scrutiny for many years prior to this film being produced. They are being overfished and causing many ecological problems to the area surrounding the lake. These areas are being developed and causing pollution, which is directly affecting the lake. I also learned that there was a huge backlash from this film in Tanzania. The government felt personally attacked by the film, even though it was presenting true facts about what was going on at the time.


 * __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Citations __**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Nile perch - marketing success or ecological disaster?." //Nile perch - marketing success or ecological disaster?//. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2014. <http://www.gisl.co.uk/Megapesca/nileperch.html>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rice, Xan. "Tanzania sees malice in Darwin's Nightmare." //The Guardian//. Guardian News and Media, 17 Aug. 2006. Web. 28 Feb. 2014. <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/aug/17/film.filmnews>.