Keating_Darwin's+Nightmare+annotation

‘Darwin’s Nightmare,’ Directed by Hubert Sauper (2004)

INTRODUCTION ‘Darwin’s Nightmare’ focuses on the troubles of Lake Victoria in Tanzania, Kenya, one of the world’s ‘hot spots’ for global hunger. The source of livelihood for the communities surrounding the lake relies on the vicious cycle of the fishing industry, both production and transportation. The veins that it has created in the Tanzanian community have led to an extremely impoverished dependence on fish populations, with no help from the industry’s control and little regard for how the fish is obtained by the fishermen.

SUSTAINABILITY PROBLEMS ADDRESSED AND PERSUASIVE POINTS The lake’s native fish species, Cichlid, was replaced (a huge scientific mistake) in the 1950’s with Nile Perch due to the lack of prosperity and finally exploded in the 1980’s to support the fishing industry. The Perch not only grew rapidly, but also obliterated all other fish species in the lake. Now these fish face possible endangerment/extinction due to poor water conditions, ending the fishing success altogether if a solution isn’t acted on soon.

Communities built around the lake depend on the fish populations, as well as all elements surrounding the fishing industry’s processes and transportation. The communities’ cycle of dependence revolves around the fishermen, the fishermen’s families, children, pilots, the community’s religious leaders, prostitutes, and the government. Each of them has a long list of attributes that keep them interconnected and deeply dependent on their part and the parts of others within the cycle. The film did an excellent job of incorporating each of these categories by having people tell their own personal story as it was interwoven with other personal elements, commercialization of the fishing industry, and the impoverished communities.

//Fishermen// Since farmers make less than fishermen because of the poor soil conditions, they turn to the fishing career for the possibility of increased profit. Reliance on non-satisfactory wooden boats and nets leaves them little hope when they’re under supervision during their daily fishing expeditions, giving all the fish they catch to the factories. This creates problems not only from the poor working conditions and materials in regards to health [45-50 die within 6 months from the lake alone], but also for their survival and the survival of their families: inadequate food supply, let alone costly foods if there are any, leave them starving and malnourished. Many fishermen also die from a lack of money because they cannot afford the foods (and ironically fish) that are sold in the markets, as well as the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS. Proper direction from the government to establish a different employment infrastructure would allow the fishermen to have more reliable working conditions and income, or just leave their fishing jobs for a more stable economy and dispersal of different jobs that enable communities to survive on their own (tailors, farmers, fishermen, etc.)

//Fishing families// When the men are fishing during the day, their families try to make a living out of harvesting what the planes won’t carry: fish carcasses. Hundreds of drying racks are filled with scraps from the factories in hopes that they can be used to make any form of food. Unfortunately, not only are these conditions unfavorable, but ammonia gases created from drying carcasses lead to other health problems not caused by malnourishment alone. These families are trying to make something out of seemingly nothing and unfortunately barely survive not only from the lack of food but from health problems and the losses of their fisherman husbands.

//Children// Despite the poor working conditions, male children are torn between the expectation of becoming fisherman and the desire to become pilots (or of finding other attractive occupations), while the female children are expected to become prostitutes to make “a better living” based on income and treatment. The fisherman work very hard and devote all of their energy to bringing home as much profit for their families to survive as possible, while the pilots exude the “wealth” and “demeanor” of those not from within the Tanzanian communities; their lives are sought after despite their part in the degradation of the Tanzanian fishing communities and are unattainable due to lack of education and monetary stability of adults and children alike.

And while they are waiting to grow into the age suitable for fishing, communities are created amongst the children (including orphans) along the lakefronts while their parents are working. There are small fights brought about over scraps of food and drugs made from fish carcasses, as well as larger discretions and begging among the “street children” (orphans). Not only does this support the children’s upbringing into the cycle of poverty, but also the lack of provided schooling so that the children aren’t left with the only options: fisherman and prostitute. Without any way to know what other options they have, there is no hope for the children to survive and live better lives.

//Pilots// These pilots are the kings of the industry when they travel to factories surrounding the lake, being lavished with women, alcohol, and fruitful time as they wait for the plane to be filled with fish. They are paid by companies to transport fish solely from Tanzania to Europe, sometimes arriving empty and sometimes arriving with weapons. It’s obvious that the empty planes bring the Tanzanian people nothing to better their lifestyle (food, etc.), but the outgoing planes take away all that they have.

In a way, the pilots represent the companies that take advantage of the fish stocks: they come with nothing but take everything they have to offer (women, food, etc.), leaving little (if anything) behind and nothing for the communities to better themselves with.

//Religious leaders// It seems the guidance that these religious heads are providing to their follows are tainted: they are pressured into believing that the fishing capabilities provided from the lake are a miracle provided by Jesus, though they overlook the lack of proper living and sustainability that the fishing industry could provide for them (supposing the current species wasn’t about to die out soon.) They also promote the adopted career of prostitution, but advocate no contraception. From my standpoint, this seems to only keep the women trapped in a ring of disease and the families stuck in the impoverished lives belonging to fishermen. They offer thanks for the fish, but no consideration for how they’re ruining their lives and preventing them from living sustainably.

//Prostitutes// The poor women in the communities have no other way to turn besides working with the carcasses or becoming prostitutes; the lack of options offers no growth occupation-wise, as well as mentally. It’s devastating to know the lives that these women lead and are pressured into leading for financial stability, but having a community that doesn’t allow other options leaves them stuck in their ways.

And one of the most persuasive parts of film was the following of Eliza, a prostitute, and the troubled life that she and her friends led in pleasing the pilots that came in weekly from Europe. Persuasion was evident from the personal element that Eliza’s story had: it wasn’t just the story or prostitutes, but the relationship that the audience could have with a person, with a prostitute that actually have a name and face other than just a job description. She came from a difficult family where her mother was deceased and had no fatherly guidance, but recognized the position that she had been placed in and wanted more. She desired extended education to direct her towards another career, but unfortunately was so caught up in the ring of prostitution that she found herself in a corner; sadly she was killed before the film was finished.

//Industrial workers, guards// The fish-packaging factory employs about 1000 workers, but doesn’t pull them further out of poverty than their fellow fishermen. And while there are very strict security measures taken for protecting the National Fisheries Institute, one of the guards interviewed, Raphael, was merely armed with poisoned bow and arrow; as a guard he is only paid $1 per night and faces danger from being targeted and murdered. Both of these careers represent those stuck on the periphery: they are fortunate enough to have jobs, but reap no real benefits from them and are in fragile states: reliance on the fish by those in the factories, and the possibility of dying to protect the fisheries by the night watchmen.

//Government// It’s clear that economic problems are prominent amongst the workers, but not among the officials that oversee the industry and experience the benefits of the lake’s profits. However, these monetary successes are blinding the government from seeing the problems the communities are facing like economic stability and general standards of living. Any dissent from the citizens is also not supported by the current legal system, proving that there needs to be a different infrastructure established to support the communities, as well as the country as a whole. Without this change, the cycle surrounding the fishing industry will only remain as it is and possibly eventually lose portions if the fish populations decline/die out

REACTIONS AND RESPONSES The personal stories that were associated with each of the groups of people involved in the cycle surrounding the fishing industry were most compelling to me: it was no longer a story told of facts without faces and without names, but actually provided evidence and a relationship that the audience could make with people actually living out their lives in these ways. And by seeing how the fishing industry manages to touch everyone in the community, it made me realize how connected each job has in a society like our own, and how tightly the Tanzanian people are stuck in their ways without anyone to turn to to help them make changes.

Which brings me to the fact that even the President of Tanzania wouldn’t allow the film to be shown in the country. It’s clear that the government profits from the fish industry, turning a blind eye to the basic problems the communities face and not admitting their own faults in continuing to feed the country’s problems. Food shortages are denied, and even any food that could be imported wouldn’t be affordable in the markets because the citizens have no money. Specifically, requests to the UN world food program were declined due to subtle differences between “starvation” and “malnutrition” in a crisis situation. Either way, communities that suffer from both should be helped out, not only with food provisions, but also in establishing a more sustainable and substantial economy based on local jobs that provide well-reimbursed labor and food.

And what I can’t wrap my head around yet is how the Europeans, who are selling the fish, are able to mask the efforts of the fisheries by saying that sanitation in the facilities is quality and the jobs of the industry are supporting good lives for their workers. Even the factory workers’ lives were tainted by interviews from their bosses, making it seem like they were fortunate to be working there (which compared to fishermen, they were) and lived prosperously off of their wages. But when you see images of their homes, their water supplies, and their foods, it makes you wonder how much of that profit is being kicked back to them for their livelihood and the livelihood of their families.

Simply put, the fact that 25% of Tanzania’s profit is credited to the fishing industry doesn’t support the success of all of those involved in reaping that profit, let alone seeing that profit being funneled back down into the communities for their sustained living.

And the story told here isn’t just about fishing: Sauper is quoted saying ‘”I could make the same kind of movie in Sierra Leone, only the fish would be diamonds, in Honduras, bananas, and in Libya, Nigeria or Angola, crude oil.” This makes me wonder about the other facts that are told about countries’ success of exports, wondering where that money goes, who works for it, how beneficial those careers really are for their workers, and what kind of vicious cycles are present because of the industries taking advantage of those communities. What stability and sustainability do those industries have in those remote locations? What is the true quality of their practices? And even putting the attention back on the people affected: what is their mental status? Do they feel trapped? Are they as repressed as those in Tanzania? And why is there no support and action taken for their opposition?

INTERVENTION Some points of intervention to establish awareness amongst the community, then forcing them to act out and have their arguments heard by their government:


 * Religious intervention of education and contraception
 * Factory owner(s) donating to children – keeping them fed, off the streets by establishing an orphanage
 * Ending the exploitation of the lake and workers by designing policies for good effects, focusing on updating free trade agreements (e.g. capping the daily export, setting price limits, allowing the extra fish to be sold/given to citizens, distributing extra gain to citizens by government)
 * Involvement from European Union (who clearly holds the highest stakes in maintaining this fishing operation) to allow citizens to make profit and establish better lives
 * Governmental responsibility to establish more sustainable living conditions within the communities (jobs, food supply, education, water)
 * Establishing a labeling system on the packaged fish, creating a cultural shift of deeper understanding that the products bought aren’t just provided, but were made by someone who has a family, who relies on income, and who struggles daily for survival
 * Integrating the fish waste into the soil to promote agricultural growth and reliance, providing jobs and food for the community

CONCLUSION The closing credits left me thinking about the compounding negative reasons provided just from Tanzania for to why Africa is seen as “a mess.” It may be accurate, but the media creates this impression by letting us think that there is no hope for the communities (not just those in Africa) and it’s merely exploitation of cheap labor. What we don’t continue to think about is how to fix the problem, how to get the government to acknowledge that they have a problem and have been elected to help their citizens thrive successfully, not on the verges of starvation.

The plentiful amounts of fish from the lake are being stolen from the communities around the lake for the capitalization of those who can afford to have it trucked out of there, keeping the factories working and the fishermen employed. The struggle between working and feeding families is torn by the lack of ability for the fishermen to afford their own daily catches; the fish are being stolen right out from under them, and with no other guidance, they and the communities around the lake have no other structure to keep them leading healthy lives with stable income.