War Child (The Story of Emmanuel Jal)

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Emmanuel Jal was born in Sudan during a war, grew up with war, and fought in four battles as a child soldier. The above song 'Emma' is about an aid worker that smuggled him from a village in Sudan to Nairobi, Kenya and took care of him until she died in the 90's. There he became a well known hip hop artist and escaped the slums.



The film follows Jal to Kenya and through Sudan visiting places he passed through as a child. It includes footage of Jal as a kid (who is never seen without his Asterix shirt) that was taken from an earlier film. As you follow his story, you also learn the story of Sudan as a whole.

I don't even like hip hop, but i can't ignore the power of this music:

from song above:
now i cry myself to sleep
in my dreams i often weep
my children are hungry, my back in pain
and still they come to rape again

Also, check out Emmanuel on TED.com

8.8/10