War Witch (Rebelle) (2012)

Drama, War

Director: Kim Nguyen
Writer: Kim Nguyen
Starring: Rachel Mwanza, Alain Lino Mic Eli Bastien, Serge Kanyinda, Ralph Prosper

"Respect your guns. They are your mother and your father."

A gut-wrenching and realistically told story of child soldiers in Africa.

War Witch, a.k.a. Rebelle, covers about three years in the life of a Komona, a young girl who, at the age of 12, gets brutally kidnapped from her village and turned into a child soldier by rebel forces during civil war in central Africa. Forced to drink hallucinogenic tree sap, she has visions of spirits from her past, which help her escape an ambush. This earns her the title of "war witch" and gets the attention of her army's leader, who gives her special treatment. But that's only the beginning of her ordeal, as she hooks up with a slightly older albino soldier with whom she tries to flee the horrors of the world around them.

With an outstanding natural performance from the lead actress Rachel Mwanza, which has earned her richly deserved praise and awards, and an amazing job from its writer-director, Canadian filmmaker Kim Nguyen, who spent 10 years developing the story, War Witch is a powerful chronicle of what is still going on in some parts of the world today. From the opening sequence of a harrowing slaughter to its shattering conclusion, the film holds the viewer's heart in a vise.

Plot summary from IMDb: Komona, a girl in Sub-Saharan Africa, tells the story to her unborn child about her kidnapping by rebels and forced to join their bloody civil war. When she discovers a valuable intuition about the presence of the enemy, she is elevated as a witch and favored by the rebel leader. However, this special status threatens to be short-lived in this world of superstition and senseless brutality even as the ghosts of the war dead haunt her visions. However, when a newfound friend convinces her to desert, Komona finds escaping that brutal life is far from easy with its physical and spiritual consequences following her wherever she goes.

Awards: Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 35 wins & 11 nominations.
Runtime: 90 min
NOT R