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Must See Films - 'Sons of the Clouds'
Thursday 4th April 2013 | Hannah
Javier Baderm is not only an Oscar winning actor and played the only Bond villain who has tried to seduce James Bond himself, he also campaigns tirelessly for the refugees in the Western Sahara. ‘Sons of the Clouds’ is a documentary, starring and produced by Baderm himself, which highlights the conflict in the Western Sahara. A former Spanish colony, the Western Sahara has been under Moroccan control since 1975, and despite a ruling for independence by the International Court of Justice, Morocco still claim that the land is theirs. As a result thousands of Sahrawis have been forced to choose between being exiled to desert refugee camps or to live under a Moroccon Government. As a result, almost 200,000 people are now living in refugee camps in the Sahara desert.
Complete with cartoon drawings and maps of who is involved and where, the audience is guided through the long and complicated conflict. What Baderm and director, Alvaro Longoria, have managed to achieve is to successfully bring a relatively unknown issue which is generally ignored by senior officials and bring it into the public eye, increasing the general awareness of the issue.
Jumping from footage and interviews with the Sahrawi people who speak about their loss and betrayal by the Spanish to interviews with official figures and experts who offer a more factual review of events, the documentary contains the perfect balance between true life and analysis. Families look back at their lives when they had a home and identification whilst a heart-wrenching interview with a young boy whose whole family, including his pregnant mother were abused and killed in front of him, exposes the sheer horror which these defenseless people have been subjected to.
Though celebrities who try and delve into humanitarian issues are usually met with cynicism by the public, it is clear from Baderm’s pained face as he is rejected by yet another official who refuses to comment on the issue, that he cares deeply about the Sahrawi people. However Baderm is not afraid to take action and actually collects 230,000 signatures from Spanish citizens who want more to be taken. This then leads to Baderm being given the opportunity to speak at a UN conference, in front of the world’s most important officials.
Overall ‘Sons of the Clouds’ is not an opportunity for Bederm to get some good publicity for himself, at no point does he ever mention that he is an Oscar-winning actor in order to raise the profile of the campaign nor does he overshadow the focus of the documentary. Instead, ‘Sons of the Clouds’ is an emotional yet informative film which has a very serious subject matter. However the documentary has a clear objective; help the world become more aware of a forgotten group of people, giving them a voice and making sure it is heard.
By Hannah Crouch
