search

We Come as Friends

We Come as Friends

In “Darwin’s Nightmare” (2005), a searing Oscar-nominated documentary about economic exploitation in Tanzania, the director Hubert Sauper found a perfect microcosm for colonialism in the invasive Nile perch. The fish was artificially introduced into Lake Victoria in the 1950s and ’60s, ate all the other fish and then was exported as food for Europe and Japan. In the meantime, Tanzania suffered from a famine, and as the film repeatedly sought to demonstrate, the planes arriving to pick up the fish sometimes brought in weapons for use in the continent’s civil wars.

Planes also figure heavily in Mr. Sauper’s “We Come as Friends,” a follow-up of sorts to “Nightmare” that can stand on its own or play as a riveting and damning companion piece. Although it lacks a big hungry fish, the guiding metaphor is also the stuff of science fiction. Crisscrossing Sudan before and after South Sudan declared its independence in a 2011 referendum, Mr. Sauper likens his perspective (and that of the audience) to that of an alien approaching a planet called Africa. “We come as friends” is the suspect message of the investors we see in the film. Part of the argument here is that South Sudanese independence was heavily driven by outside forces because of the potential for profit from development.

Piloting an ultralight tin can of an airplane nicknamed Sputnik that he designed for filming the movie, Mr. Sauper produces the sort of angled aerial footage that you might associate with “Apocalypse Now.” With an eye for landscapes stunning and hellish, he is the rare documentary filmmaker who not only takes on tough subjects but also explores them with a vivid visual and aural approach. Beginning with the steel railroad tracks cut through the region in the Victorian era, the movie draws a through line to the bulldozers of the present day.

Mr. Sauper gets further grist for his sci-fi conceit in a scene that shows Chinese oil workers watching “Star Wars,” “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “Star Trek.” (“We come in peace,” Captain Kirk is seen saying. “But we’ll defend ourselves if necessary.”)

Working in a surreally inflected vérité style — with few title cards or identifications other than what is spoken on screen — Mr. Sauper also has a knack for catching his subjects in unguarded moments. A British bomb disposal expert wonders about the locals’ capabilities: “There must be a reason they’re still 200 years behind the rest of the world.” A Christian missionary from the United States calls South Sudan “New Texas.” Another says that the Toposa people of South Sudan “don’t understand property ownership the way you and I do.” A United Nations representative seems unusually concerned with oil. Foreigners are shown partying like frat boys when the country declares its independence.

The more skeptical of the Sudanese talk of poisoned water, being cheated out of their land and the barriers to communication. In one of many bleakly comic moments, a South Sudanese lawmaker who wants residents to lease their property mumbles his way through the national anthem. Peripherally, there are sound bites from Hillary Clinton, who says that “more and more, the world will look to Africa to be its breadbasket,” and expresses hope that Africans will profit from that.

The movie suggests that the benefits are decidedly skewed.

— Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times

We Come as Friends

Tue November 10, 2015, 7:30 only, Muenzinger Auditorium

France/Austria, 2014, English, Color, 110 min, 1.85:1, NR, DP • official site

recommend

Tickets

10 films for $60 with punch card
$9 general admission. $7 w/UCB student ID, $7 for senior citizens
$1 discount to anyone with a bike helmet
Free on your birthday! CU Cinema Studies students get in free.

Parking

Pay lot 360 (now only $1/hour!), across from the buffalo statue and next to the Duane Physics tower, is closest to Muenzinger. Free parking can be found after 5pm at the meters along Colorado Ave east of Folsom stadium and along University Ave west of Macky.

RTD Bus

Park elsewhere and catch the HOP to campus

International Film Series

(Originally called The University Film Commission)
Established 1941 by James Sandoe.

First Person Cinema

(Originally called The Experimental Cinema Group)
Established 1955 by Carla Selby, Gladney Oakley, Bruce Conner and Stan Brakhage.

C.U. Film Program

(AKA The Rocky Mountain Film Center)
First offered degrees in filmmaking and critical studies in 1989 under the guidance of Virgil Grillo.

Celebrating Stan

Created by Suranjan Ganguly in 2003.

C.U. Department of Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts

Established 2017 by Chair Ernesto Acevedo-Muñoz.

Thank you, sponsors!
Boulder International Film Festival
Department of Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts

Looking for a gift for a friend?
Buy a Frequent Patron Punch Card for $60 at any IFS show. With the punch card you can see ten films (a value of $90).

We Want Your Feedback

Cox & Kjølseth
: Filmmaker Alex Cox & Pablo Kjølseth discuss film topics from their own unique perspectives.

Z-briefs
: Pablo and Ana share Zoom-based briefs on what's currently playing at IFS

Search IFS schedules

Index of visiting artists

Mon Apr 1, 2024

Hot Shots! Part Deux

At Muenzinger Auditorium

Sat Apr 20, 2024

Super Mario Bros.

At Muenzinger Auditorium

more on 35mm...