Darwin's Nightmare

Hubert Sauper's documentary was shot in Mwanza, on the shore of Lake Victoria in Tanzania. The Nile perch released into the lake in the fifties and sixties destroyed most of its native fish species, and an enormous export industry grew out of it. Sauper follows that chain: as fillets processed at the factory fly to Europe, the question of what the same planes bring into the region is the film's most contested claim. The camera watches factory workers, children living on the street, fishermen and pilots. It screened at Venice and was nominated for the Academy Award for best documentary. The Tanzanian government reacted sharply, arguing that it damaged the country's economy and image, and a journalist who appears in it came under pressure; Sauper said he had been misunderstood and that he could have made a comparable film in other countries around other resources. Who it's for: viewers who follow documentaries about global trade and resource economies. Who it's not for: anyone expecting neutral presentation; some of its claims remain disputed.