by Larry Richman
May 10, 2008 7:16 PM

War Child

In War Child we meet Emmanuel Jal, a successful hip-hop artist in his 20s whose music tells the story of a young life in exile from the ravages of civil war. First-time filmmaker C. Karim Chrobog's documentary is both frightening and inspiring at the same time.

To many Americans, for whom names like Darfur and Sudan are mere locations in Africa with tragedies attached to them, War Child is a history lesson quite profound. I sat in stunned silence as the origins of the humanitarian crisis there were made real through the words in Jal's songs as well as the recounting of his childhood in the Sudan, subsequent escape, and return 18 years later to be reunited with the family he left behind. We travel with him on this journey, literally, and the emotions flow forth. War Child is, on one hand, a music documentary for lovers of hip-hop. But, more than anything, it is a history lesson which will leave you with a new sense of what the crisis in Darfur and Sudan are all about.

War Child went on to win the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival's Cadillac Audience Award, the only prize voted on by the moviegoers themselves.

Baghdad High

Four high school students are handed digital cameras with which they will record their senior year of high school. This documentary sounds pretty familiar, on the face of it. It's been done many times before. The twist here is that the high school is in Baghdad, one of the most violent and war-ravaged cities in the world, and the four (all boys) would appear to be enemies to the outside world -- they and their classmates are Muslims, Christians, Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds. What they have in common, though, is that they are all teenagers, and we know where this is going right from the start -- the message here is that kids are the same all over the world.

The premise of Baghdad High is not a novel idea by any means. In fact, I saw two similar films at the previous festival I attended. The challenge here is to make it work in an original way, not just to pick four cool kids who can make the viewer laugh and cry, but to touch the heart by showing the adult world just how immune "ordinary" teens can be in the face of war. They have the same desires, hopes, and dreams as high school kids everywhere -- they just want to get good grades and have fun. The difference here is that they might be blown up by a roadside bomb on the way home from school.

One of the biggest surprises of Baghdad High is that the boys are more curiously endearing and their friendships much sweeter than similar documentaries shot in U.S. high schools. Their displays of affection for each other and absence of talk about girls and sex is probably a bit more accurate than what American teenage boys would like others to believe about themselves, especially when cameras are pointed at them. There is little of the typical bravado and macho posturing we see with teens in America.

Another surprise is how little discussion of politics takes place in these homes (or in the film itself). Even then, the kids never mention it at all. When the subject is brought up, it's the parents who are asked how they feel about the U.S. presence there. With a shrug, they actually blame both governments. They don't even take sides. They just want the violence to end.

Baghdad High debuts August 4 on HBO.