The Children's War [DVD] [2009]

Director Andy Krakower explores the 22 year old conflict that has ravaged Acholiland, Northern Uganda, and the Lord's Resistance Army's (LRA) role in turning over 20,000 youngsters into child soldiers. When the sun sets over Acholiland, the LRA comes out in force. But they're not fighting the government anymore; somewhere along the way, they turned their weapons on their friends and neighbors. Today, the children who aren't immediately raped or murdered are forcibly conscripted into the LRA and forced to endure a grueling initiation rite before being forced to return home and slaughter the very people who helped to raise them. And those who die in action are the lucky ones; if their peers don't starve to death before reaching adulthood, they'll almost certainly become infected with HIV/AIDS and die a slow death. This is the story of Uganda from the people who have lived there for the past two decades, never giving up hope that their precious children may someday live in peace.~Jason Buchanan