Last May, actor Don Cheadle and his family traveled to Kampala, Uganda for a fundraiser screening of Hotel Rwanda to benefit the “night commuters” of Northern Uganda. These are the children who have to flee their homes every night and hide in urban camps to avoid being forced to fight in the rebel Lords Resistance Army.
Filmmaker and longtime ABC News producer Rick Wilkinson traveled with the Cheadle family, and documented what they found in a 24-minute short called “Journey Into Sunset.” The film profiles the lives of some of these children, some of whom did not manage to avoid being kidnapped:
They lived or died at the will and whim of their captors. They were forced to fight. And some commited horrible atrocities. We meet some of the kids managed to escape the clutches of the LRA. They’re free now, but the scars on their souls will never heal.
I first heard about the film when I met Rick a few weeks ago in Los Angeles, at the home of a mutual friend. I haven’t seen it yet, but it sounds and looks incredible, from what’s on the website.
Rick now shares word with BoingBoing that the film will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in NYC on April 26, where both he and producer John Prendergast will present for a Q&A. Journey will also be screening at the Boston Film Festival, the Atlanta Film Festival, and (probably) the Maui Film Festival, all of which take place in June.
I can’t wait to see this film. Link to website, and here are screening details for the Tribeca premiere on (April 26, with a few more NYC screenings over the week that follows.
Image above: Cheadle with “night commuter” children at a camp called “Noah’s Ark,” photo by Rick Wilkinson. (Thanks, Scott Shulman and Rick Wilkinson!)