The Heart of Nuba will be screened on all seven continents beginning this week in observance of the United Nations Genocide Prevention Day on December 9 and Human Rights Day on December 10. Select screenings will include a virtual reality experience that affords viewers around the world a first-person, on-the-ground look at the war and its victims.
The film will be shown to members of the United States Congress, the United Nations, the House of Lords in London, Paris City Hall, three locations in Sudan, and other cities around the world. This global release comes on the heels of an impactful viewing at The Hague, home of the International Criminal Court, which has indicted Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir for crimes against humanity, war crimes and three counts of genocide.
“The Heart of Nuba is so important because it makes people connect with the crisis in Sudan on a personal level,” said Adotei Akwei, Managing Director for Government Relations at Amnesty International USA. “Once it’s personal and you see the positive, amazing story of Dr. Catena, you begin to see the impact of the lack of medical care, the impact of full-scale aerial bombardment and other war crimes, it moves from a list of human rights abuses to ‘look at what they’re doing to this child,’” he said.
With new dates being added each day, the more than 30 screenings being held over the next few weeks are supported and hosted by some of the most influential human rights organizations and Sudan rights groups in the world, including Human Rights Watch, Act for Sudan Coalition, Waging Peace, Jewish World Watch and Amnesty International, which has already screened the film at several of its regional conferences.
“It is our hope that this movie will give a voice to the voiceless and shed some light on the plight of the Nuba in this forgotten corner of the world,” said Dr. Tom. “Let the dead and maimed have their day in court.”
“President al-Bashir can get away with bombing schools and hospitals because people are unaware that it’s happening,” said director Ken Carlson. It was the pressing humanitarian crisis in Nuba that influenced him to release the film immediately through the international coalition of non-governmental organizations rather than wait to secure traditional distribution. “We’re putting this tragedy in front of a global audience and calling it what it is: genocide,” he said.
In addition to the screenings, we’re asking the public to act as witnesses to the war crimes Dr. Tom has documented over the last five years. Learn more about his war log and add your name here.