We like to mix our movie nights up. Sometimes they are just beautiful human stories set in locales like China, Iran, or Rwanda. Other times they are documentaries that tell stories of hope and joy in the midst of the most horrifying life circumstances. Like this month’s movie, War Dance – a stunning documentary that weaves together the stories of several schoolchildren from Patongo refugee camp in northern Uganda and follows their journey to a national music competition in the capital city of Kampala.
The civil war that has raged in this region for over 20 years has left no family untouched. As the children tell stories of beloved parents murdered before their eyes, of being abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army and forced to kill, or of their day to day struggle to exist as orphans in a displacement camp of 60,000 people- the viewer wonders how they find the strength to face each day. But the children also share their hopes and their dreams – most notably their dream to compete against 20,000 other Ugandan schools and bring honor to their Acholi tribe.
It is the first time that children from this camp have qualified for the competition and expectations are low. They have few resources to work with. The camp conditions are sub-human. They lack electricity, running water, sufficient food, and suffer from hunger and malnutrition-related diseases. Their competitors look down on the Patongo children, calling them orphans and murderers; no one expects them to do well, let alone win anything. But the professional Ugandan artists who travel into the war zone to help them prepare the required drama, instrumental, western choir, traditional music and tribal dance numbers are met by talented and determined children who have done the best they could with severely limited resources.
While it is true that their problems cannot be solved by a music competition, War Dance is also about the healing power of the arts – and it’s ability to give dignity and hope to even the most traumatized human beings. I won’t give away the ending – but let’s just say the competition is exciting. War Dance is a Sundance prize winner for good reason, – a beautiful film with stunning visuals and a powerful, inspiring story. You don’t want to miss this one!
As always, bring snacks to share.
Children are welcome – those who are old enough can join us in the main film. Others can watch age-appropriate videos and play games in the kids room. Since we’re meeting on Friday night, we’ll begin at 7 pm to give everyone time to get home from work.
In a nutshell…
What: War Dance
Where: Ancient Path House
When: Friday June 5th at 7 PM
Food: Snacks to share – your choice. We’ll provide paper products and popcorn.
(Note: “War/Dance” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned) for some thematic material involving descriptions of war atrocities.)