The winner of the Audience Award at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival is the inspiring War Child. This documentary is about the life of Emmanuel Jal, a rising hip-hop star who at the age of 8 became a child soldier in the devastating Sudanese civil war. The film is part musical biopic, part history lesson on the recent and ongoing genocides of Africa. Sudan is shown in the film to be a precursor to Darfur, explaining how in essence the same war has moved north. While the war has been declared a genocide by the UN and President Bush, little intervention has occurred in Darfur because of terrorist intelligence provided by Sudan’s corrupt officials as well as a dependence on oil from the region.
Jal believes the genocide will end if enough citizens stand up to their government and demand new leadership. That is why he uses music to get his message and his story out into the world. “I believe I’ve survived for a reason / To tell my story / To touch lives,” raps Emmanuel Jal in his song “War Child” for which the movie was named. The film includes incredible footage of Jal as a boy at a refugee camp in Ethiopia. It is extraordinary to see him rise out of violence and poverty to become a musician on stages around the globe.
War Child had its North American premiere at Tribeca on Monday night and Jal was in attendance to answer questions and grace us with a rap. The film’s Director Karim Chrobog stood by him as Maya Ajmera, founder of the Global Fund for Children, presented Jal with a $5,000 donation to his organization Gua Africa which is building a school in his home town. While his home has been rebuilt since the war leveled it, there is still no school in the region.
Below is the Q&A following the screening.
Emmanuel Jal
Emanuel Jal: Thank you, all of you, for coming to watch the film. I would like to thank Karim. You know when Karim approached me to do the documentary he told me his name is Karim and I was freaking. [laughter] Then to make things worse, his other friend coming [to meet me] is also from Iran. I said, “My God! What kind of people are these!” Karim said, “Your story is really inspiring and we want to use it to speak for your country. Not only that, we want to use it so you can give back to your homeland and build a school.” That’s how he got me. Others were trying, saying they would give me money and make me famous, meet Jay Z, “You’ll travel the world.” That didn’t hit my heart. But this man is amazing.
Question: How far along is the school project?
EJ: Right now we are so far behind in making it happen but we have a sponsorship program where we put kids in school in Kenya. But we are raising money to build a school [in my hometown]. You can actually look on the website to see how far we’ve come: www.GuaAfricaOnline.com
From the crowd: Contribute!
EJ: Yeah, you can contribute, buy a brick or sponsor a child, you never know.
Q: Whatever happened to your friend, the little boy with you at the refugee camp?
EJ: That’s a big surprise. One day I got a call from someone from Australia telling me, “This is me.” He told me, “I’m in Australia getting a degree.” I couldn’t believe it. He’s only one of my child friends that I’ve know that has survived. Most that were close to me are dead.
Q: Can you tell us about American children who are suffering with their own inner wars? You said when you spoke to a high school that they have their own wars. What would you say to them?
EJ: It’s a big responsibility because it all goes back to education and role models who inspire them. Most people are like us, like the musician or athletes that come up from a poor background. The only thing these kids know, is if you sing or if you become famous, that’s the only way out. It’s hard for them to see role models who are out there that have achieved degrees. We need this. They have to see something positive.
Q: One of the scenes that made the film was when you talked about the guy who died of thirst. Can you tell us more about that?
EJ: The story is long and has been cut into small pieces [in the film]. A lot of people were frustrated. Myself, I wanted to shoot myself because I was getting thirsty. We would wipe our hands on the grass in the morning and lick them. But that didn’t help us. When the place became intense, soldiers would place a gun to another’s head and make them pee into a cup so they could drink their urine. But it never helped them at all. They just got irritated. They started shooting themselves. One occasion happened where we all gathered in a tree and everybody was waiting to die. What happened is what I testify. I don’t know whether it was my God who gave us the water or magician God, but everyone prayed that day under the tree in the Savannah Desert. A cloud came and it started raining. 100 meters away from the tree it was dry.
Q: First of all thank you so much for sharing your story with us. There was one moment where you talk about the responsibility of the American Government, the responsibility that the government is not taking and that it really rests with the people to create change. I wanted to know what you would like to see the American Government doing in Darfur right now.
EJ: For the people of Darfur what frustrates me is that they are going through the same situation that we went through in South Sudan. The world knows about it, that these people are getting oppressed and we are standing there with a blind eye. That’s really hard for us to take. But the American Government can, if they want to do it, do [something]. Sudan’s best friend was Iraq and when Sadam was in trouble, Sudan got someone else to come in and that was China. China takes the oil from Sudan and gives the government of Sudan arms. Those arms are used to kill civilians. Now the American Government is sharing information with Sudan and it’s slowed everything down. What I believe in are the people. People like you here that are seeing the film. There are many people, especially at the University who have made a stand. These are the people who have kept Darfur in the media. Personally, I believe in people, and people make the rules but they can still change them and change the government.
Q: Have you talked to refugees in other parts of the world that had a similar experience?
EJ: Yes. There are similarities. What I know is sharing the stories is a therapy in itself. Other people I get inspired, that after all this happened I did something with my life.
Q: How did you find the footage of Emmanuel as a child?
Director Karim Chrobog: This was very late in the filmmaking process. Emmanuel called me from London and said, “Somebody from Sudan gave me a DVD and I’m in it. I think 6, 7 years old.” We did get the DVD and indeed there was Emmanuel as a child. But there was no credit, no source. We had no idea where it came from. Over a process we were able to locate it. A French journalist had been there in the 1980’s doing a story on the famine of the Sudanese and the refugee camps. We called him and said, “Do you know Emmanuel Jal?” And he said, “Yes, but he’s dead.” We said, “No, he’s a rapper in London.” He said, “I’m going to check this out and call you back.” He did and called me back and said, “Amazing!” and sent us all his materials.
Q: Thank you so much for making this amazing story and keeping hope alive. I want to know if you know how old you are now?
EJ: Yeah. Like all the Lost Boys I was born January 1st, 1980. When I asked my Dad how old I was he told me I was born December 31st, 1979 at night, at 11pm. Just one hour off. So I stick with the 1st.
Q: I wonder if we can persuade you to rap for our audience tonight?
EJ: [after applause] My God, I’m caught off guard. I haven’t performed for a long time so I’m going to be nervous. Alright.
