War Child

Emmanuel Jal might be a hot name in the contemporary hip hop scene, but his beginnings were much bleaker. One of the infamous child sholdiers of Sudan, Jal knew how to wield a gun before he learned to read and write; however, he not only managed to survive the ordeal intact but had the courage to channel the horror of his early years into a different, more profound kind of hip hop. A far cry from the usual drug-gansta-and-easy money glorifying kind of hip hop, Emmanuel Jal’s music is a cry for help by a people ravaged by one of the most disgraceful wars in the history of mankind. A truly compelling documentary, War Child was featured in the Berlin, Tribeca and Seattle Film Festivals.