War Dance~~~

Best documentary nominee for the 2008 Oscars, this movie is the balm for empathy burnout. We follow the lives of schoolchildren from a refugee camp, orphaned in the civil war in Uganda, as they sing and dance their way to the nation’s top competition, the Kampala Musical Festival. The camp was originally meant for 5 families, it now holds 50,000 people. There are some, 200,000 orphaned children in all of Uganda. The focus is on three children, Nancy, Rose and Dominic whose faces will never leave you and whose spirit will inspire you.
“We are the children of the war zone- we have lost mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers we have seen evil but our story does not end here…”

Nancy ~ “Our home was beautiful, it had plenty of trees and was cool” That morning her parents leave for their fields as always but at night only her mother returns. Ignoring their cries of where is Papa, she quickly orders Nancy to take her two younger siblings and go hide in the bush. She returns after two days to find her father hacked into pieces and her mother gone.

Rose~ “when the rebels pulled out my mothers head from the cooking pot I felt I was losing my mind”. She and the other children of the village where forced to watch each head emerge as a warning. The rebels leave the village desolated and the orphans to fend for themselves. In the camp, she finds an aunt who needs help with her children and reluctantly takes her in. “I dream of my parents every night, I wish they were still alive”

Dominic~ His eyes steady on the camera never even blink. “You are the first to know I have killed. The rebels told the farmers to lie down face first in the field, they told everyone not to turn away or close their eyes or they would be killed. We older boys(9 years of age) had to take the farmers hoes and hack them until they died or we would be killed” He escapes some days later and makes his way to the refugee camp.

If you pity these children, you are without eyes or ears, because as they sing and dance their traditional tribal songs you see how the human spirit can be healed. Nancy is a dancer but wants to become a Doctor and have a clinic in the camp. Rose defies her aunt and goes to the competition, her voice, her father always told her, was a gift from God. Dominic plays a wooden “xylophone”, not happy with the sound he concentrates as he pulls out the nails, readjusts the wooden key, restrings the jute around the nails and plays on. It makes him feel happy to play and he wants to become a professional musician.

I cannot say enough about this amazing film, these children. You owe it to yourself to seek out this movie. Please. Soon.

For more information go to Shine Global and the movies official site: http://www.wardancethemovie...