[Peace] REMINDER: [Aware] Invisible Children showing tomorrow night

[Randall Cotton]

A substantial activist effort is growing out of this film (Invisible Children).
I've appended additional information about the movie, after Shara's reminder
below, from the (impressive) website www.invisiblechildren.com.

R

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Shara Esbenshade" <esbenshd at uni.uiuc.edu>
To: <aware at anti-war.net>
Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2006 11:47 PM
Subject: [Aware] Invisible Children showing tomorrow night


: Hi,
: I would just like to remind all of you about the showing of the film
: Invisible Children tomorrow evening, Wednesday the 17th, at 7.30pm at the
: Independent Media Center. It is totally free. The documentary, about the
: abduction of child soldiers in Northern Uganda by the LRA (find out more
: at www.invisiblechildren.com), is about an hour, and we hope to have a
: discussion afterwards. Hope to see everyone there!
: Shara Esbenshade & Uni students
: _______________________________________________
: Aware mailing list
: Aware at lists.chambana.net
: http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/aware

Invisible Children: Rough Cut
Movie Synopsis:
What started out as a film-making adventure in Africa, transformed into much
more, when the three young American's
(Jason Russell, Bobby Bailey, and Laren Poole) original travels took a divine
turn, and they found themselves stranded in
Northern Uganda. They discovered children being kidnapped nightly from their
homes and subsequently forced to become
fight as child soldiers. This film is dedicated to exposing this tragic, and
amazingly untold story.
Even at this moment, in Uganda, Children as young as 8 are methodically
kidnapped from their homes by a rebel group
called the "Lord's Resistance Army" (LRA). The abducted children are then
desensitized to the horror of brutal violence
and killing, as they themselves are turned into vicious fighters. Some escape
and hide in constant fear for their lives.
Most remain captive, and grow to maturity with no education other than life "in
the bush" and fighting in a guerilla war. Of
the many ramifications that a 20 -year-long war can cause, the film "Invisible
Children: Rough Cut" highlights what the
community refers to as "NIGHT COMMUTERS." We watch thousands of children
"commute" out of fear, from their villages
to nearby towns each night in order to avoid the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army)
abductions. They sleep in public places,
vulnerable, and without supervision.
This film focuses in on 4 young boys: Jacob, Thomas, Tony, and Boni. Through
their eyes, we relive the terror of
abduction, courage of survival, the heartbreak of losing a brother, and the
innate joy- found only in a child. The three
filmmakers (Jason, Bobby, and Laren) were amazed to find many things in common
between these kids and kids in
America, themselves included.
As the three left Northern Uganda, they were appalled by what they had seen, and
yet, in awe of the resilience and hope
they found in these children, and this community. The filmmakers thought: How
could such an atrocity exist for such a long
time, without the world knowing?
Believing that the "invisible children's" story could inspire others to do
something, as it did them, they created a
documentary, which we now know as the "Invisible Children: Rough Cut".
They originally screened the film in June 2004 for friends and family and soon
expanded to high schools, colleges, and
organizations. After audiences viewed the movie, one question repeatedly
surfaced, "what can we do?" And so, a nonprofit
was birthed out of a film.
THE UNITED NATIONS ESTIMATES 300,000 CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 18 ARE CURRENTLY
FIGHTING IN CONFLICTS AROUND THE WORLD AND HUNDREDS OF
THOUSANDS MORE ARE MEMBERS OF ARMED FORCES - EITHER BEING TRAINED FOR COMBAT OR
USED AS LABORERS. PHYSICAL, SEXUAL AND EMOTIONAL ABUSE IS
COMMONPLACE. MOST OF THESE CHILDREN WERE FORCIBLY CONSCRIPTED OR ABDUCTED BY
FIGHTING FORCES TO BECOME INSTRUMENTS OF WAR, TO KILL OR BE
KILLED. WITHOUT EXCEPTION, THE EXPERIENCE HAS DEVASTATING EFFECTS ON THEIR
PHYSICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT.