War Dance (PG-13, 2007)

Northern Uganda is the setting for this documentary, which traces Pantogo Primary School's unlikely journey to Uganda's National Music Competition. We see the children preparing their performances, being coached by their teacher, and honing their instruments. They are aided by two professional musicians, who have come to the camp to coax their performance to the next level. What goes on behind the scenes, however, is where the real drama lies. Many of these children have seen their parents killed by rebels, or else they have been abducted by rebels and forced to become child soldiers. As they tell their stories, the audience begins to grasp what is really at stake for these children. Music and dance allow them to forget their sorrow, encouraging them to reach beyond the trauma that has shaped their experience. Traveling to Kampala for the competition allows the children of this remote camp to experience what the rest of the world takes for granted. They see airplanes and cars for the first time, they drink soda with straws, they hear the other children refer to them as terrorists. And they perform with passion unbridled.

WAR DANCE won the 2007 Sundance Award for Documentary Directing and was nominated for an Academy Award. For good reason, too. It's a visually stunning piece with real dramatic pull and a triumphant climax. It doesn't delve into sentimentality; rather, concise stories are told by these child witnesses to the horrors of war. In a land where 200,000 children have been orphaned by war, War Dance explores what makes them feel whole. The film succeeds in making the viewer feel very humble in the face of real courage. On the day of the performance, Dominic says, "We are going to show them we are giants." Thanks to this film, we can grasp what being a giant truly means.

Studio: THINKFilm
Director: Sean Fine
Cast: Dominic, Nancy, Rose
Genre: Documentary
Run time: 147 minutes
Theatrical release: November 7, 2007
DVD release: September 30, 2008
MPAA Rating: PG-13
MPAA explanation: some thematic material involving descriptions of war atrocities