And the Oscar Goes to...

A bunch of stupid birds. Birds, I might add, that do not even know how to fly. I know it is supposed to be expected that we are all dismayed by Oscar results, but this defeat was particularly disappointing. Though it will go down in Oscar history as an also-ran (and thus I'll probably have to wait even longer before it becomes available on Netflix), Darwin's Nightmare is an incredibly important film for people concerned with questions of history and violence.

Some time in the 1960's, in the heart of Africa, a new animal was introduced into Lake Victoria as a little scientific experiment. The Nile Perch, a voracious predator, extinguished almost the entire stock of the native fish species. However, the new fish multiplied so fast, that its white fillets are today exported all around the world.

Huge hulking ex-Soviet cargo planes come daily to collect the latest catch in exchange for their southbound cargo… Kalashnikovs and ammunitions for the uncounted wars in the dark center of the continent.

This booming multinational industry of fish and weapons has created an ungodly globalized alliance on the shores of the world’s biggest tropical lake: an army of local fishermen, World bank agents, homeless children, African ministers, EU-commissioners, Tanzanian prostitutes and Russian pilots.

Maybe next time the director will have the good sense to recruit Morgan Freeman as narrator. I'll post a genuine review of the film when I am, in fact, able to re-view it. Until that time I suggest you explore the film's official website. You can view the trailer online here, as well as this extended excerpt. If you're still upset about the unjust verdict, remember the words of Gandhi, who said:

"To banish anger altogether from one's breast is a difficult task. It cannot be achieved through pure personal effort. It can be done only by playing this game. Or, if you are really angry, this one."