War Child (2008)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Christian Karim Chrobog

Release Date:

14 November 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

Hip-hop star Emmanuel Jal returns to Sudan where he served as a child soldier. |

Awards:

5 wins

Cast

Emmanuel Jal

...

Himself

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for thematic material and images involving war and related atrocities.

Runtime:

94 min | Germany:94 min (Berlin International Film Festival)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Sudan

Company:

18th Street Films

Frightening and inspiring

In "War Child" we meet Emmanuel Jal, a successful hip-hop artist in his 20s whose music tells the story of a young life in exile from the ravages of civil war. First-time filmmaker C. Karim Chrobog's documentary is both frightening and inspiring at the same time.

To many Americans, for whom names like Darfur and Sudan are mere locations in Africa with tragedies attached to them, "War Child" is a history lesson quite profound. I sat in stunned silence as the origins of the humanitarian crisis there were made real through the words in Jal's songs as well as the recounting of his childhood in the Sudan, subsequent escape, and return 18 years later to be reunited with the family he left behind. We travel with him on this journey, literally, and the emotions flow forth. "War Child" is, on one hand, a music documentary for lovers of hip-hop. But, more than anything, it is a history lesson which will leave you with a new sense of what the crisis in Darfur and Sudan are all about.