| Don Cheadle Answers a Call to Action with "Darfur Now" - Page 2 |
| Written by Brad Balfour | ||||
| Monday, 29 October 2007 16:44 | ||||
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In "Hotel Rwanda" the Oscar-nominated actor addressed the genocide that took place in South Africa a decade ago
The struggles and achievements of six different individuals from inside Darfur and around the world bring to light the tragedy in Sudan and show how the actions of one person can make a difference to millions
Don Cheadle discussing his views on the crisis and genocide in "Darfur Now"
Q: When actors get into activism, it puts their careers into a different light--a good light, nonetheless. Do you talk to your friends about it, like George [Clooney] or Brad [Pitt]? DC: I don't know where it fits, vis a vis. I think a lot of people think doing activist work really helps in your career. I think, as you are a human being, and you're feeing off of being a human being, giving value and meaning to your life, then in all walks of your life it helps. As far as acting goes, it sometimes cuts against it. It makes it more difficult, as a career. It makes it more difficult in our business, because you get pigeon-holed. It's just another way to get pigeon-holed and people don't think you can do a bunch of things and those doors start shutting. Does that mean that I stop doing it for me? No. Or George? or others that I've spoken to? No. You keep doing it because that's where your heart lies. It definitely puts everything in perspective. Way more than my acting, it puts my family life into perspective, it puts my children's relationship to me in perspective--what are you trying to accomplish and achieve as a global citizen in the brief time that you're here? What do you want to do? Do you want to be on record between you and your god and your family and your friends as having tried to do something? Or just to make as much money as you can and get a nice big house and cool ass cars and nice clothes? You can do that too. But I don't think thats how you want to measure yourself. Q: You mentioned in the film, that you got a bill passed in California, and that there were like 15 more states coming along. What's the progress lately? AS: Yeah, we've been moving. California started because we were working at the university and the legislator came up to us and said "This is a great idea, help me write this law," and we helped him write a law. And then we started getting a call from legislators from all across the country. So in the last year--my final scene in the film, that was september of last year--we passed laws in another 12 states. Q: Do you think your film is going to have an effect? AS: Absolutely. We're really trying to push this internationally now. So I think that's going to spark that. There are still four more pieces of legislation still in play. Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin just passed it this year. We've got commitments from legislators in another 15 states, so we're working on all 50. There's a federal bill in the US Senate that just passed the Senate banking committee. It's the "Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act," introduced by Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Richard Shelby (R-AL). It passed the House of Representatives in July. So that will bring divestment into a federal level. DC: It's great timing, given the confluence of events that are happening at this time. There's peace talks they are scheduling in Libya at the end of this month. This year, there's supposed to be a 30,000-member peace-keeping force that's going to go into the area. So its really time, in our opinion, for the film to come out. It will make us push even more now. These things don't happen with this sort of nexus all at the same time. Of course in 15 months we're going to have a new administration. And with the Olympics in China next year, a lot of stuff is freighting on Darfur right now. We need to use this opportunity to push that and keep making sure we're a present force in that. Q: You just mentioned China. That's been a problem. China has been selling weapons to the Sudan government. Will this film create the kind of awareness that will affect US policy or UN's policy towards China? DC: Under this current administration, it is doubtful. I believe that everything in this current administration, as far as supporting that, is that it's all about Iraq and terrorism. I don't think that that will be anything we can focus on right now. So a lot of other things are getting second or third tier consideration. But America is only one component in the United Nations. We're trying to appeal to the greater body of governments, besides ours. Who has done more, a lot more, than other nations have? When this 33,000-strong force of troops goes into the area, 27% of the budget will be from the US. That's a large portion in compared to what other countries have committed so far. We have done some positive things and forward thinking things, we're trying to continue to push them to do more. And as George Bush considers his legacy, we're saying this should be a part of what your legacy should be. If you want to resurrect it,you should stand up and be the the only president to call a genocide a genocide while it's occurring. Now what does that mean? To actually push for change. Q: To what extent do you see your work in "Hotel Rwanda" and on this movie as being part of the same genre? DC: As I mentioned, Royce--the one who pulled me into this--was the person who was trying to make noise on the Hill, he and his Democratic counterpart, Donald Payne (D-NJ) about Darfur, about what was happening in Sudan, and he wasn't having a lot of success raising the temperature on the issue. And then "Hotel Rwanda" came out. He saw it and he saw very similar echoes and a very personalized way of touching people, and he thought it would help bridge the understanding about Darfur. So there was a Congressional delegation and they invited me to go on it with he and several other members of Congress. I went, and John Prendergast came, and the ABC cameras came and "Nightline" came and filmed it. And this just started this ball rolling downhill. And once I had been there, and seen the effect of what was happening and the devastation and talking to people, people who had nothing but meager bits, but were sharing a handful of peanuts...I was like, "Whoa..." How do you not come back and not do something about it? You have to do it. So that's where it connected for me. Q: And thus what are you doing next? DC: We got a burlesque thing happening...[laughs]. No, I'm producing a movie about Miles Davis right now. © Brad Balfour 2007 |
