"War Dance"... Rent it.

War Dance
(War/Dance)
2006PG-13105 minutes

Set in civil war-ravaged Northern Uganda, this Best Documentary Oscar nominee follows the lives of three youngsters who attend school in a refugee camp and find hope through a rich tradition of song and dance. Coming from a world in which children are abducted from their families and forced to fight in the rebel army, these kids give it their all when they travel to the capital city to take part in the prestigious Kampala Music Festival.

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In the midst of my research of that far away continent, Africa, I came across this and watched it tonight via Netflix. It's HIGHLY recommended unless you are a member of my immediate family. Mom, Dad, Kevin, if you're reading just close out and ignore. If you are not a family member who thinks I'm going to be diseased and hunted because I'm going to Africa, this movie is heartwarming and intensively touching. I will be staying near Kampala, the main city they visit at the end.

On a personal note, despite this being a real-life documentary I still can't imagine what I will see and feel when I am actually in Uganda. The poverty and horrible stories told in this documentary are not just in a movie... I have to expect to see all if it and still have my heart beat on. My heart will be breaking a lot, and I'm not ready for that but I'm working on it. It will be really hard to be there and engage with and live with a bunch of people(s) that I can't just HELP. Where do you start?

And another thing. Who am I to say they need to be helped? Last time I checked the enormous stress that the urban, educated society holds on its hunched-over laptop-obsessed shoulders continues to develop into these societies that numb emotion and closeness in an attempt to encompass independence (financially. emotionally.) and build POWER.

((end rant))