2011 Sundance Predictions: Sara Terry’s Fambul Tok

#07. Fambul Tok – Sara Terry

Not only does the Sundance Film Festival have the mandate to support burgeoning narrative filmmakers, but the fest is also the lieu where socially conscious/responsible documentary films make their mark. The Sundance Institute Documentary Film Grant and IFP Documentary Lab supported Fambul Tok certainly fits that bill. Directed by former Christian Science Monitor reporter turned filmmaker Sara Terry, this docu, which should have audiences bawling their eyes out, is also produced by a friend of the festival in Rory Kennedy.

“Fambul Tok” tells the story of healing in post-conflict Sierra Leone through the intimate stories of perpetrators and victims, including: Esther and Joseph – family members who were caught in the horrors of the war. At age 12 Esther was captured by rebels, and raped by 15 men. Among them was her uncle, Joseph. He, too, had been caught by the rebels and ordered to rape Esther – or be killed. Sahr and Nyumah – best friends whose lives were forever changed by the conflict. Rebel forces turned the two boys on each other, forcing Nyumah to beat his best friend so severely that he crippled him – and then forcing him to cut the throat of his best friend’s father.

* Producers: Sara Terry and Rory Kennedy
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