The Children's War

For the last twenty-two years, the nightmare has begun at sundown in Acholiland, Northern Uganda. Under the cover of darkness, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has kidnapped, enslaved, raped and forcibly conscripted more than 20,000 children-some as young as six years old. Those who survive their initiation into the rebel army of self-proclaimed spirit medium, Joseph Kony, are forced to kill their own people-their one-time playmates, their village elders. Those who survive the ravages of war must now endure a truncated life from HIV/AIDS or starvation. They must also find a way of life among corrupt government soldiers whose protection from the LRA rebels may be accompanied by heinous abuses of power. In the Children's War, survivors finally give voice to atrocities suffered and performed. At great personal risk, rebel commanders, elders, teachers, social workers and the children themselves reveal what has been obscured to the world, until recently. Through raw and tender dialogue, the audience sees that indeed hope still stirs in their hearts.

Director: Andy Krakower