War Dance wins Diff people's choice award

War Dance, one of the films in The Destination Documentary line up I programmed this year, was awarded Dubai's First Peoples Choice Award for documentary. The film is directed by Andrea and Sean Fine.........Patongo’s refugee camp packs 60,000 people into its endless squalor. There is no electricity, no running water, and no safe place. The bullet holes in the school walls tell the stories the children would rather forget. Each child has a story to tell. Rose, a 13-year-old choirgirl, is trying to piece her life back together after witnessing the brutal aftermath of her parents’ grisly murder. Dominic, 14, is an escaped child soldier and virtuoso xylophone player who is haunted by the memory of the two people he was forced to kill. And Nancy, a 14-year-old dancer, struggles to keep herself and her three baby siblings alive. But amidst the grief and violence, voices are heard – children’s voices – singing strong, without fear. Their bodies shake and stomp to the rhythms of their ancestors. They dance about their homeland, they dance about their future, they dance to be children…and they dance to win.

The war has stolen their homes, their parents, and their childhood.Despite the odds, the children endlessly practice their performances, driven by heart, talent, and the need to rebuild their lives. If their bus can safely make it through rebel territory, they’ll take the stage and give it their all. Win or lose, these children will show what true heart can achieve. www.wardancethemovie.com