Support the project:
Christmas in Darfur is an
independently produced
film funded solely through
the contributions of individuals
and organizations who take world affairs personally.
Your support is vital to the
success of this project. Every
single dollar is a great help,
so please don’t be shy; make
a donation of any denomination
below
Drop us a line: info@christmasindarfur.org
Our lovely supporters
(so far):
Eric Ottens, Tokyo
Lake County Press, Waukegan IL
Rick Song, Clincinatti, OH
Daryle Macoicha, Washington DC
Julie Mojica, Chicago
Z. Milak, Rome
Darkroom, Chicago
Bourbon, Washington DC
Catherine Dillon, St. Charles IL
Neema Enriquez, Washington DC
Jerome Gaynor, St. Louis
Kevin Ambrose, Homer Glen IL
Illinois Entertainer, Chicago
Winepress, Homewood IL
Matthew Myers, Chicago
The Mushuganas, Chicago
Emily Dennison, Chicago
Usama Alshaibi, Chicago
Kristie Alshaibi, Chicago
Kathleen Erickson, Carpentersville, IL
Jeff Ottens, Chicago
Mary DeRosa, Washington DC
must...ROCK!, St. Louis MO
Jeffrey Canfiled, Burke VA
Bruce Thompson, Smyrna GA
Andrew Streicher, Little Rock AR
Doug Donsbach, Knoxville TN
Adam Landsman, Patomic MD
Arlene Rosenbaum, Rohnert Park CA
Jeff Stidham, Walla Walla WA
Brian Teixeira, Downington PA
Jennifer White, Rowlett TX
Bert Mojica, Cicero IL
Sarah Crossley, Chicago
Vibhuti Hate, Washington DC
Toren Smith, San Francisco
Mara Zupsich, Los Angeles
Silas Dilworth, Chicago
Mark Rodekohr, Oakton VA
Liisa Hantsoo, Philadelphia PA
Joana L. McCracken, Reston VA
Greg Sanders, Silver Spring MD
Christine Wormuth, Arlington VA
Jonathan Gad, Mount Prospect IL
Barbara Mojica, Cicero IL
Simina Farcasiu, Roslyn Harbor NY
Carrie Maiorano, Mississauga ON
James Miller, Arlington VA
The Jawa Report, The Internets
Rachel Posner, Washington DC
Joe Torre, Atlanta GA
Pierre Chao, Washington DC
Craig Hutler, Chicago
Mary King, Alexandria VA
Joan Sladaritz, Streamwood IL
Kevin O'Leary, Chicago
Tanya Tarr, Washington DC
Mid Continent Corporation, Elk Grove Village IL
Leon Shahabian, Washington DC
Peter Jefferson, Chicago
Ky Henderson, Brooklyn
Lauren Liss, Chicago
Joshua Zucker, NYC
Ruth Lopez, Chicago
Ryan B. Thomas, NYC
Stephen Immerwahr, NYC
Braden King, NYC
Annie Tomlin, Chicago
Alan Richardson, Los Banos CA
Adam Andres, Carol Stream IL
Gabrielle Zucker, Baltimore MD
Alysia Kinsella, Chicago
Crystal MacKinnon, Chicago
Stephen Bagwell, Madison WI
Mary Beth Brennan, Washington DC
Anna Kolodziej, Norridge IL
Mia Park, Chicago
Jenna Rounds, Watertown MA
Roxxane Ong, Elmsford NY
Porochista Khakpour, NYC
Rod Scholl, Minneapolis MN
Brian Kinsella, Chicago
Robert Pietrusko, Malvern PA
Eugene Auh, NYC
Alexandra Geovanos, Belmont MA
Jason Tuttle, Los Angeles
Amy Kelly, Minneapolis MN
ThreeWalls, Chicago
Irena Basiura, Chicago
David Foster, Chicago
Alan Weiers, Minneapolis MN
Susan Franz, Chicago
Roy Wehrmeister, Skokie IL
Jamie Hayes, Chicago
Kenan Halabi, NYC
Lee Boot, Baltimore MD
Michael Sulmeyer, Santa Barbara CA
Roctober, Chicago
Meredith Yayanos, Rancho Santa Fe CA
Tammy Grunch, Wichita KS
Jason Chez, Vernon Hills IL
Ankush Goel, Chicago
Laura Keating, Washington DC
Tatiana Leneva, Alexandria VA
Andrew Gossett, Washington DC
Jennifer McReynolds, Chicago
Jeffrey Canfield, Burke VA
Ali-Mehran Khalili, Gonderange Luxembourg
Pirus Press, Glasgow Scotland
Julie C Berson, Falls Church VA
Catherine Wynne Hamilton, Greensboro NC
Thomas Devold, Alexandria VA
Robert Williams, Somerville MA
Gerald Epstein, Bethesda MD
Jennifer Pace, Laurel MD
Bunnyhop, Richmond VA
Aaron Lovell, Long Island City NY
Ameen Syed, Glendale Heights IL
Eerik Hantsoo, Cambridge MA
Cheryl Kernahan, Namao AB Canada
Patrick Keller, Portland OR
Scott Willis, Ottawa ON Canada
Debbie Stroman, Washington DC
Catherine Mason, Richmond VA
Raymond F. Dubois, Washington DC
Tanya Primiani, Washington DC
Paul McKay, Smithfield RI
Matthew Shultz, NYC
Walter Yoon, Woodside NY
David Scruggs, Washington DC
Melanie Faith, Schaumburg IL
Travis Elliott, Willow Street PA
Bates Gill, Clarksburg, MD
Aimee Bucher, Lake Villa IL
Steven Smith, St. Louis MO
The Royale, St. Louis MO
Kim Baynit, St. Louis MO
Dara Thomas, St. Louis MO
Jason Toon, St. Louis MO
Mark Early, St. Louis MO
Rachel Newman, St. Louis MO
Kelli Willams, St. Louis MO
Kelly Sullivan, St. Louis MO
Lauren O'Donnell, St. Louis MO
Jerry James Jester Jr., St. Louis MO
Deneva Grace, St. Louis MO
Tony Clark, St. Louis MO
Allison Trombley, St. Louis MO
Julie Fasbender, St. Louis MO
Susanna Yi, NYC
Gene Song, NYC
A. Rebecca Rozelle, St. Louis MO
Meredith Deegan, Algonquin IL
Mary Williams, Honolulu, HI
Owen Price, Alexandria VA
Jocelyn Spence, Farnborough UK
Richard Fairbanks, Washington DC
Tom Melk, Chicago
Jason Pickleman, Chicago
Jen Hughes, Minneapolis MN
Jackie Lorenty, Huntley IL
Greg Busse, Bensenville IL
Kammy Lee, Chicago
Roberta Howard, Oakton VA
Lyn Wigbels, Great Falls VA
John Schaus, Washington DC
Shinjiro Koizumi, Washington DC
Sr. Pat Doerr, OP, River Forest IL
Donna Spitler, Washington DC
Nathan Keay, Chicago
Emily Shultz, NYC
Olympia Fokta, West Chicago
Julie G Kelleher, San Antonio TX
Sarah Taylor, London
Adam Reeve, Duffy Austrailia
Doki-Doki Designs, St. Louis MO
Aron Packer, Chicago
Dave Rutledge, St. Louis MO
Rosamaria Garcia, Belvidere IL
Clare Ros, Chicago
David Razowsky, Los Angeles
Daniel Gregory, Arlington VA
Jordan Razowsky, Evanston IL
Amanda Mueller, St. Louis MO
Christina Mason, Washington DC
Sarah Taylor, London UK
Jill Tyler, Washington DC
Charles Sutherland, Kensington MD
In December of 2006, three nerds from Chicago came up with the idea to travel to the refugee camps on Sudan’s border in hopes of finding out what it would really take to “save Darfur.” With neither filmmaking experience nor a great deal of common sense, Jim Milak (an IT guy), Jason Mojica (a waiter), and G. Ryan Faith (a policy wonk) asked friends, family, and the denizens of the Internet to help them make this journey. Donations started trickling in, as if a testament to the general public inability to comprehend how so many people could be killed for so long without anybody doing anything about it. They came from the U.S. and they came from England. They came from Ambassadors and they came from busboys. Mostly, they came from complete strangers. At a time when Sudan was charging journalists with espionage, neighboring Chad was fending off coup attempts, and aid agencies were evacuating personnel, coverage of the issue was on the decline. It was a catch 22: the more dangerous things became, the more important it was to call attention to it; the more dangerous things became, the less likely anyone would be there to call attention to it. But armed with a DV camera, bulletproof vests, and insatiable curiosity, Jim, Ryan and Jason decided to go for it. They met rebels and they met refugees. They met humanitarians and they met politicians. Everyone had a solution and everyone had a heart of gold. And yet, for all the best intentions… not much has changed. So what’s the point? What’s was the point of making this film? What’s the point of watching it? Good question. Christmas in Darfur? serves to illuminate a crisis that has been oversimplified for the admirable sake of drawing the world’s attention to what is undeniably a catastrophe—revealing a bit of the complexity that needs to be understood if a practicable solution is ever to be found. The film also shows how easy it is to become overwhelmed by this complexity—something that happened to our intrepid travelers. Finally, it demonstrates what happens when everyday people take it upon themselves to play a part in the world unfolding around them. Although the trio have finished the film and posted it online for all the world to see, they’re still trying to recoup the cost of making the film and scrounge together money to translate it into Arabic, French, and Chinese. Additionally, they are hoping to fund a grassroots speaking / screening tour of college campuses, barrooms, backyards and basements. If this sounds like a worthy cause to you, donate a few bucks via Paypal, won’t you? And please, enjoy the film.
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Read the Blog:
We went, we saw, we filmed...now what!? Get the answers at the Christmas in Darfur Blog:
Christmas in Darfur Blog
Boing Boing:
Sean Bonner goes behind the scenes of Christmas in Darfur for Boing Boing...
TV Appearances:
See the filmmakers on Chicago Tonight with Phil Ponce...
And on Washington DC's WUSA with Andrea Roane...
Chicago Tribune
The Tribune's Robert Elder chats with Jim about the film.
Radio Interview:
Listen to an interview with Jason Mojica on Chicago Public Radio's Vocalo.
Upcoming Events:
Los Angeles, CA
June 22, 2009
Mandrake
2692 S La Cienega Blvd
Los Angeles, CA
7pm - FREE
Join Jim, Jason, and Ryan in Los Angeles for the premiere screening and a chat about the film. RSVP via Facebook.
Past Events:
We hosted several events to raise funds for the first stage of this project. Watch this space for upcoming events including the screenings of the film. But for posterity, let's remember the good time we had in...
Washington DC
December 20, 2007:
Bourbon
2321 18th St. NW
Washington, DC
8pm - $5
Guest DJ Laura Burhenn
Chicago
December 17, 2007:
The Hideout
1354 W. Wabansia
Chicago, IL
8pm - $5
St. Louis
December 23, 2007
The Royale
3132 Kingshighway
St. Louis, MO
314.772.3600
Chicago
October 15, 2006:
The Mushuganas, Winepress, and DJs Rebecca Crawford & Emily Dennison of The Dials
Sunday, Oct. 15th, 2006
8pm-2am
$10 / 21 and up
Darkroom
2210 W. Chicago Ave.
Washington, DC
November 15, 2006
DJs Neville C. and D-Mac, plus a very special happy-hour set by Jason Mojica pitting two of the greatest crooners of our generation against each other: Frank Sinatra and Glen Danzig. Additional performance by Matthew Shultz.
Wednesday, Nov. 15th, 2006
6pm-1am
$5 / 21 and up
Bourbon
2321 18th St. NW
Washington, DC
St. Louis, MO
December 7, 2006
Join Mark Early, Jason Mojica, Jason Toon, and Jerome Gaynor at The Royale as they spin their favorite punk, funk, and other junk. Proceeds from drink and dinner specials will go to Christmas in Darfur and Reporters Without Borders.
Thursday, December 7th, 2006
The Royale
3132 Kingshighway
St. Louis, MO
314.772.3600