War Dance

War/Dance is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen. It made me feel happy and sad at the same time. These children are amazing. Their plight reminds me of the children in the Holocaust. It also made me realize that we are lucky to live in the 21st century and that we are truly a "global" community. What does the average person know about life in Uganda today? Watching these children tell their heart-wrenching stories made me want to go to there and visit their village. I think because of the contest these children have hopes and dreams again. They rose above the horrors of war and achieved, in a sense, nobility, not just for themselves but for their whole tribe. Directors/writers Sean Fine and Andrea Nix ought to receive an academy award for their excellent work! Do not miss this film! Its images will stay with you for a long time.

This superb documentary shows Acholi children from one village in the war zones of northern Uganda, who diligently prepare for the national musical and cultural competition in far-off and far-safer Kampala, the capital of Uganda.

While they try hard to succeed, they are beset by the constant danger of abduction at the hands of the Lord's Resistance Army (MRA), which is led by a religious fanatic (and part-time mystic and fortune-teller) named Joseph Kony, who started an uprising against the Ugandan army in 1986, pledging to turn the country into a theocracy with a constitution loosely based on the Ten Commandments.

Kony's army has abducted more than 30,000 children in northern Uganda and forced them to be soldiers and killers of their own tribal members. More than 200,000 children in northern Uganda have been orphaned because their parents were murdered. The LRA's 20-year war against the central government's Ugandan People's Defence Forces (UPDF), has left at least two million Ugandans displaced from their homes. Meanwhile, even in so-called 'safe camps,' where countless thousands live amid squalor and disease and depend on the United Nations food program, the UPDF still doesn't provide adequate protection.

It is wonderful to watch these determined children turn on their smiles and their brilliant talents as they prepare for, and participate in, the national competition. When they arrive in Kampala (southern Uganda, where no warfare takes place), they are overwhelmed to see skyscrapers; they had never seen buildings before.

Writers/directors Sean Fine and Andrea Nix have done a great job of conveying the wondrous dreams of young people, along with the terrible ordeals they face in a savage, senseless war that sees no end. One youth, in a stunning story of barbarism, recounts how he was ordered to butcher three farmers with a hoe, and if he looked away at any time, he himself would have been murdered. Such is the barbarism that exists in northern Uganda today, much of it all but unknown to us in the West.

To make matters worse, there is blatant corruption in the central government itself, which enacted legislation in 2005 that will allow the corrupt lowlife Yoweri Musevini (elected in 1986) to be president-for-life. There are strong hints that he and Kony have an 'arrangement' to continue the war because it advances both of their 'causes,' although those 'causes' are not always readily apparent. Neither of these two lunatics appears to give a damn about the terrible pain they have inflicted on their own people.

Another equally powerful documentary on this same subject is 'The Other Side of the Country' (2006), by Quebec filmmaker Catherine Hebert. This very disturbing film concentrates more on the older (and even aged) northern Ugandans who are displaced from their homes by war and forced to live out their lives in teeming, treacherous 'relocation' camps, which are really nothing more than disease-infested examples of the worst kinds of slums.

I was fortunate to see this movie on a promotional pass. Fortunate, as I may have passed up this very moving film. I have seen the documentaries up for an Academy Award this year and this by far surpasses them. It has inspired me. For many, many years Uganda has been at war with rebels, a conflict that I had heard about in the past and thought was long over. I had heard in my youth, how children's families were killed and they were kidnapped, the boys to become soldiers in the rebellion and the girls sex slaves. I was horrified to hear that it is still currently going on. This is a story of a group of these children from Patongo who survived. Some saved from being rebels and some … not so lucky, being forced to kill their own at gunpoint. Sounds dismal and bleak, but this is a story of Hope, Redemption, Pride and Perseverance. With beautiful cinematography and the story of song, music and dance these children are the very image of Life and the strength of the Spirit. The documentary focuses on three students in the Patongo refugee camp, Rose, Dominic, and Nancy, as they prepare for their first National Music Competition in which over 20,000 schools will be competing. They tell their story of survival and trauma of the brutally violent effects of the rebellion. Haunting and disturbing, powerful and most important uplifting, this is the finest definition of Courage. A must see film.

I saw War Dance when it was screened at the Sundance Film Festival. I shed a lot of tears and was awed at the resiliency of these children. Besides the devastating aspects of the film, it was also uplifting and brought a smile to my face. Simple things that opportune individuals take for granted made these children so happy. The cinematography was beautiful and symbolic. The children were lovable. Everyone should see this film as it opens our eyes to what others suffer and overcome. It helped me to realize how lucky I was to live in America and have the life that I have. The film also builds awareness and gives the viewer information on how they can help out with situation in northern Uganda.

I thought that this movie was truly amazing and so eye opening! I was in shock when i saw this because though I knew that there was a war going on, i didn't realize how bad it really was. I think that this movie was wonderfully made and that they deserved that Oscar. I also think that the three main kids (Dominic, Rose and Nancy) were such nice kids and happy kids even though they had to go through all that. I got to meet Dominic and he is a truly wonderful kid. He is so nice and doing really well.

Also, in case anyone wanted to donate money to AMREF (one of the sponsor's for the film) you can go on their website, www.amref.org and then they tell you how to donate there.