Darwin's Nightmare

I've had this movie on my “to-watch list” for such a long time that I don't even remember where I've had this recommendation... not such a surprise here in the forgetfulness department, but I digress.

This movie is a documentary; the action takes place on and around Lake Victoria. The reference to Darwin applies to the fact that the region is a cradle to mankind and Lake Victoria used to be a shelter for hundreds of species... Slowly, but surely, all the species inside the Lake are destroyed by the Nile perch, a fish introduced by man for a little experiment and that has become the number one economical activity of the area, and the local population is destroyed by... something... Some will call it mankind or indifference, others capitalism or cupidity, others colonialism or exploitation. The bottom line is it's probably all of the above.

To sum it up, I'd say it's the hardest blow against mankind I've had for a long time: seeing all the horrors that we (we as in "we, rich peoples in this world and our leaders", as in "Western powerhouses") make the people surrounding the Lake Victoria live through should make anyone an instant mankind-hater at first sight. Then, after the images have sunk in and you recover from the visual and moral shock, what happens? You've seen people working in filthy conditions, husbands die, wives driven to prostitution, children living in the streets by themselves, doing drugs, fighting for food, indifferent pilots coming in with weapons and ammunition and going out with Nile perch cargoes, people wishing for war, EU ambassadors spreading the "good work" word... It all makes you put in perspective all your petty day-to-day chores, but what happens next?