W A R/D A N C E

W A R/D A N C E

Across the country, Ugandan children are getting ready for the biggest event of the year: the annual Kampala Music Festival. Fifty-six schools will compete, but only one will go home the champion. No one expects it to be Patongo ? schools in the middle of refugee camps don?t win awards.

But when the music starts, expressions shift. After a lifetime of trauma, this year Patongo Primary School students have something magical to anticipate. For the first time, they have qualifed to compete in Kampala?s national festival. The capital city may as well be on another planet to these kids. Most have never left the camp, but they dream about Kampala?s towering buildings, plentiful soda and soldier-free streets. Unlike the wealthier schools from the south, Patongo?s students scrap for school uniforms and instruments. Despite the odds, the children endlessly practice their performances, filling the sweltering one room schoolhouse with dust. They are driven by heart, talent and, for some, the need to rebuild lives shattered by the L.R.A.. After months of practicing, it all builds to the big night in Kampala. 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. (via: World Vision)

Documentaries have richly peppered the film landscape quite generously of late and War/Dance is one beautiful and tender documentary showing at Sundance this week.