"War/Dance" Review – Blog Action Day 2008

In honor of Blog Action Day, which is focusing on poverty this year, I’m reviewing “War/Dance,” a thoughtful, heartbreaking, and inspiring film. It made the film festival circuit last year, had a limited theatrical release on Nov. 9, 2007, and hit DVD shelves on April 15, 2008.

The documentary follows several children who’ve been ravaged by the horrors of war. Nancy, 14, is a member of the Acholi tribe and now lives at the Patongo Refugee Camp, which houses a whopping 20,000 displaced people north of Uganda. For many years, a group called the Lord’s Resistance Army has been doing the work of Jehovah. Sadly, their interpretation of that work includes murdering families, driving survivors into the bush, and recruiting children into the soldier business.

If you’re leaning towards depression, this part of the film might throw you over the edge. But it’ll also give you hope that if these kids can survive, you certainly can, too.

More after the jump, including a trailer…

Ninety percent of the Acholi now find themselves in refugee camps, and 200,000 of those are orphans. Nancy tells a heartbreaking story of her father being murdered by rebels, who later came back and seized her mother. Now Nancy lives in a hut with her three siblings.

“Most people in the world think that this is the way people live in Africa,” she tells the camera. “But I want to tell them that this is not the way people in Africa live.” It’s not the way Nancy lives. She’s a singer and dancer, and a participant in the three-day event called the National Music Competition.

During the event, children from the nation’s schools compete in various categories, including Western chorale, instrumental, and traditional dance. The festival’s director, Stephen Rwangyezi, likens it to the Olympics, with both form and talent judged.

The African music is hypnotic and mesmerizing, and you find yourself hoping that the competition will help heal these damaged kids. They certainly show a resilience that most of us can only hope to achieve in our lifetime.

“War Dance” is rated PG-13 for some thematic material involving descriptions of war atrocities. Runtime is 104 minutes. Directed and written by Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine. The film has won several film festival awards,  including the Directing Award at the Sundance Film Festival. It was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary, Features.

DVDs can be purchased on the production company’s official Web site, www.shineglobal.org.

Watch the trailer:

Images: War Dance, ThinkFilm, 2007