We Come as Friends
{{Infobox film
| name = We Come as Friends
| image = We Come as Friends poster.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Promotional poster
| director = Hubert Sauper
| producer = Hubert Sauper
Gabriele Kranzelbinder
| writer = Hubert Sauper
| starring =
| music = Slim Twig
| cinematography = Hubert Sauper
Barney Broomfield
Xavier Liébard
| editing = Denise Vindevogel
| studio = Adelante Films
KGP
| distributor = Le Pacte {{small|(France)}}
| released = {{Film date|df=y|2014|01|18|Sundance|2015|9|16|France}}
| runtime = 110 minutes
| country = Austria
France
| language = English
Juba Arabic
}}
We Come as Friends is a 2014 Austrian-French documentary film written, directed and produced by Hubert Sauper.{{cite web |title=Hubert Sauper flies into South Sudan's reality in 'We Come as Friends'|website=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-hubert-sauper-20140208-story.html|access-date=April 14, 2014}}{{cite web |title=Hubert Sauper flies into South Sudan's reality in 'We Come as Friends|website=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-hubert-sauper-20140208,0,1486643.story#ixzz2spCRxkHh|accessdate=April 14, 2014}} The film premiered in-competition in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 18, 2014.{{cite web |title=Sundance 2014: World Cinema Documentary Competition|url=https://www.indiewire.com/article/sundance-2014-world-cinema-documentary-competition|accessdate=January 18, 2014}}{{cite web |title=SUNDANCE FILM REVIEW: WE COME AS FRIENDS|url=http://www.slugmag.com/articles/6988/Sundance-Film-Review-We-Come-as-Friends.html|accessdate=April 14, 2014}} It won the Special Jury Award for Cinematic Bravery at the festival.{{cite web |title=Sundance: 'Whiplash' & 'Rich Hill' Win Grand Jury Awards; Dramatic Directing Goes To Cutter Hodierne For 'Fishing Without Nets'|url=https://deadline.com/2014/01/sundance-film-festival-winners-2014-awards-list-671058/|access-date=January 26, 2014}}{{cite web |title='Whiplash' Owns the 2014 Sundance Film Festival Awards Netting Two Top Prizes|url=https://www.indiewire.com/article/the-2014-sundance-film-festival-winners-as-they-come-in|accessdate=January 26, 2014}}
The film also premiered in-competition at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival on February 8, 2014.{{cite web |title=IDFA Doc Spotlights Unlikely Dream of a Young Iranian Woman|url=http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/film/berlin-film-festival-features-we-come-as-friends-a-documentary-on-south-sudan|accessdate=April 14, 2014}} It won the Peace Film Award at the festival.{{cite web |title=Berlin International Film Festival Awards 2014: 64th Annual Berlinale Winners|url=http://trendingawards.com/berlin-international-film-festival-awards-64th-annual-berlinale-winners/#sthash.pYzwhP6p.dpbs|accessdate=January 26, 2014}}{{cite web |title=Documentary on war-ravaged South Sudan wins Peace Prize at 64th Berlinale|url=http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/5/32/94333/Arts--Culture/Film/Documentary-on-warravaged-South-Sudan-wins-Peace-P.aspx|accessdate=January 26, 2014}}
The film later premiered at 43rd New Directors/New Films Festival on March 20, 2014.{{cite web|title=Full Lineup Announced for 43rd New Directors/New Films|url=http://www.filmlinc.com/daily/entry/new-directors-new-films-2014-lineup-film-society-lincoln-center-moma|accessdate=12 April 2014}} The film also premiered at 57th San Francisco International Film Festival on April 25, 2014 in competition for Golden Gate Documentary Feature.{{cite web|title=SFIFF unveils New Directors, GGA|url=http://www.screendaily.com/festivals/other-festivals/sfiff-unveils-new-directors-gga/5068387.article|accessdate=12 April 2014}}
Synopsis
The film focuses on war-ravaged South Sudan fighting for independence from North Sudan and its President Omar al-Bashir.
Reception
We Come as Friends received mostly positive reviews upon its premiere at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 97% based on 30 reviews, with an average rating of 8.1/10.{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/we_come_as_friends|title=We Come as Friends (2015)|work=Rotten Tomatoes|accessdate=15 February 2018}} On Metacritic, the film has a score of 80 out of 100 from 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/we-come-as-friends|title=We Come as Friends Reviews|work=Metacritic|accessdate=15 February 2018}}
Rob Nelson of Variety wrote in his review that We Come as Friends becomes more disturbing as it goes, building to a terrible crescendo in a series of scenes near the end of the film."{{cite web |title=Sundance Film Review: 'We Come as Friends'|url=https://variety.com/2014/film/reviews/sundance-film-review-we-come-as-friends-1201080429/|accessdate=April 14, 2014}} Boyd van Hoeij in his review for The Hollywood Reporter called the film "A sobering and superbly edited documentary about South Sudan, a country that became independent in 2011 but turns out to be not so independent after all."{{cite web |title=We Come as Friends: Sundance Review|website=The Hollywood Reporter |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/we-come-as-friends-sundance-673883|accessdate=April 14, 2014}} Dan Schindel from Nonfics praised the film by saying that "A devastating, haunting, but absolutely necessary travelogue of South Sudan. This film is an instructional in how imperialism in Africa has not died off, but merely taken on a new form."{{cite web |title=Sundance 2014: 'We Come As Friends' Review|url=http://nonfics.com/we-come-friends-review/|accessdate=April 14, 2014}}
Chuck Bowen of Slant magazine gave the film four out of five stars and said that "We Come As Friends is terrifyingly direct and intimate. Portraying the neocolonialist exploitation of the recently established South Sudan, director Hubert Sauper devises a metaphor that's both risky and brilliantly evocative."{{cite web |title=We Come As Friends FILM REVIEW|website=Slant Magazine |url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/we-come-as-friends|accessdate=April 14, 2014}} In his review for Slug magazine, Cody Kirkland praised the director Sauper by saying that "Hubert Sauper presents a thought-provoking look inside the war-torn and extremely impoverished mother continent" and called the film "a powerful, troubling and possibly life-changing look into the real people involved in this monumental disaster, and the real consequences of economic and cultural imperialism." On December 1, the film was selected as one of 15 shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.{{cite news|url=https://www.oscars.org/news/15-documentary-features-advance-2015-oscarr-race|title=15 DOCUMENTARY FEATURES ADVANCE IN 2015 OSCAR® RACE|date=December 1, 2015|accessdate=December 16, 2015}}
Accolades
{{Anchor|Awards}}
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Award ! Category ! Recipient ! Result |
|---|
| rowspan="8"| 2014
| 64th Berlin International Film Festival | Peace Film Award |
| rowspan="2"| Sundance Film Festival
| World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary | {{nom}} |
| Special Jury Award for Cinematic Bravery |
| 11th PLANETE+DOC Film Festival
| Millennium Award |
| 7th Subversive Film Festival Zagreb
| Wild Dreamer Award | {{won}} |
| 18th Jihlava IDFF
| Best Central and Eastern European Documentary Film |
| Vienna International Film Festival
| Vienna Film Prize for Best Documentary |
| European Film Academy
| European Film Award for Best Documentary | {{nom}} |
| 2015
| Akademie des Österreichischen Films | Austrian Film Award for Best Documentary |
| 2016
| {{nom}} {{cite web |url=http://www.allocine.fr/article/fichearticle_gen_carticle=18649483.html |title=Prix Lumières 2016 : Trois souvenirs de ma jeunesse et Mustang en tête des nominations |date=4 January 2016 |work=AlloCiné}} |
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
- [http://www.wecomeasfriends.com/ Official website]
- {{IMDb title|3362914|We Come as Friends}}
- {{rotten-tomatoes|we_come_as_friends|We Come as Friends}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:We Come as Friends}}
Category:2014 documentary films
Category:French documentary films
Category:Austrian documentary films
Category:Cultural depictions of Sudanese people
Category:Sundance Film Festival award–winning films
Category:Documentary films about African politics
Category:Documentary films about Sudan