War Dance (2008) — Uganda

           "It's difficult for people to believe our story," says fourteen-year-old Dominic, "but if we don't tell you, you won't know." And so in this powerful documentary some of the 200,000 orphans tell their stories about how the rebel activities of the Lord's Resistance Army in northern Uganda killed thousands, displaced two million people from their ancestral homes into refugee camps, and subjected families to unspeakable atrocities. The film focuses on one "War Zone Displacement Camp" in particular and several of its children from the Patongo primary school who practice to compete in Uganda's annual national music competition in Kampala's National Theater. Of course, when they get to Kampala they know that other children view them not only as poor country bumpkins but as children soldiers. The film deftly switches back and forth between three stories — graphic descriptions by the children of what they experienced at the hands of the ruthless LRA, their practice for and eventual competition in Kampala, and then daily life in the badly overcrowded displacement camp. "In everything we do, if there's music, life becomes good." Which is a very powerful testimony given the evil these children experienced. In English and Acholi with English subtitles.