War Dance (2007)

The war stole everything. Except their music. [Tagline]

I just re-watched the 2008 Academy Award Best Documentary nominee War Dance, a film very close to my heart. The documentary follows the students of Patongo primary school from Pader district of northern Uganda. Children of the Acholi tribe at Patongo are training for a dance competition in Kampala and tell their own stories of displacement and loss as result of the decades-long civil war in the region.

War Dance is an amazing story that juxtaposes the beautiful traditional dances and music of the Acholi with tragic stories of northern Uganda's civil war with the Lord's Resistance Army. All the children in Pader have been affected by the brutalities of the LRA through loss of family, displacement, or abduction into the LRA as a child soldier. While this conflict has clearly had a great impact on the Acholi, War Dance was demonstrated that their tribal identity is not limited to their current struggles.

Students at Patongo Primary School have all been living in Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) camps, since they were moved by the government in order to monitor and 'protect' them against the presence of the LRA. When they arrive in Kampala for the competition, the children face discrimination from the other tribes of Uganda. Since the LRA is made of Acholi, and Acholi children are often abducted as soldiers, they are perceived as "killers" by others in southern Uganda. But, taking pride in their tribe's traditions helps the students realize that they do not have to be defined as victims. One dancer stated in the film, "I feel proud to be an Acholi when I dance. You have to be fearless, like a warrior. In my heart, I am more than a child of war. I am talented. I am a musician. I am Acholi. I am the future of our tribe."

I had the honor of seeing some of these traditional dances and songs when I lived in Pader during the summer of 2009, and War Dance depicts the complex blend of horror, hope, tragedy and pride of the Acholi tribe in a way I wish was possible in words. Instead, maybe when people ask me about the time I spent in Uganda I should just tell them to watch this film...

When I dance my problems vanish. The camp is gone. I can feel the wind. I can feel the fresh air. I am free and I can feel my home.