Child Soldiers
- Country
- Australia
- Year
- 2002
- Director
- Alan Lindsay
- Producer
- Andrew Ogilvie
- Finance
- Film Finance Corporation Australia
ABC Television
MacArthur Foundation
Radio Television Hong Kong
Oregon Public Broadcasting - Budget
- AUD 799,240
- Length
- 55 minutes
Synopsis
A telling global exposé of children who have become soldiers, who have been through the trauma of child soldiering, or who are presently active in fighting. Through a series of intimate portraits, filmed in Uganda, Sudan, Burma, Colombia and Sierra Leone, this documentary examines the complex issue of recruitment, the hazardous and often brutal life of child soldiers, and for those that survive the fighting – the daunting post-conflict challenges that lay before them.
Impact
Child Soldiers was critically acclaimed when broadcast on the ABC in 2002. HBO came on board at rough-cut stage and assisted with organizing a US premiere screening at the United Nations in New York. This was attended by approximately 800 people, most of who were diplomats and representatives of the UN and member nations from around the world where the use of children as soldiers is an issue.
The producers continue to receive feedback from viewers who said that they had been greatly affected by the film and that it had made them aware of the plight of child soldiers.
- Winner of the 2003 Child Rights Award at Osnabrueck Independent Film Festival in Germany.
- Winner of the 2002 ABU/CASABBA/UNICEF award for best program about child's rights produced in Asia/Pacific Region (presented at 2003 ABU Conference in Tokyo)
- Honorable Mention, Social Issues Division at 50th Columbus International Film Festival 2002.
- Silver World Medal in 2002 New York Film Festival's - National/International Affairs Category
- Bronze World Medal in the 2002 UNESCO Awards
Screen on HBO (USA) in fall of 2003.