Devil On Horseback is an English translation of Janjaweed, the name given to a tribe of nomadic fighters widely believed to be agents of the Sudanese government in the Darfur region, who have massacred relentlessly and systematically for over five years. Former US Marine Brian Steidle first went to Sudan as a hired hand, working as an unarmed military observer for the African Union. Documentary The Devil Came On Horseback tells his story with hundreds of shocking photographs.
Directors Ricki Stern and Anne Sundberg make Steidle the centre of the film, following his moral and geographical journey from obedient military man on the ground in Sudan to awakened political activist back home in America. In the six months he spent in Africa, Steidle saw enough to make him turn his back on life as a soldier and devote himself to raising awareness and pushing for foreign intervention. His greatest weapon in this fight is his collection of photographs, which show the bodies of hundreds of innocent people: raped, murdered, burned and mutilated.
"THE POWER TO MAKE YOU STOP AND THINK"
The Devil Came On Horseback sets out to shock. The images caught by Steidle's camera will stay with you long after his personal story - given too much time in relation to events - has faded from memory. These images, like those of the genocides in Nazi Germany or more recently in Rwanda, have the power to make you stop and think. Sadly, there's little evidence to suggest they have the power to make governments act.
The Devil Came On Horseback is out in the UK on 11 April 2008.