The Silent Army – 2009 Cannes Film Festival winner – will be released on DVD. War Child Holland hopes that the release will draw international attention to ‘The Silent Army’ and help place the effect war has on children on a higher political and social agenda.

About the movie
First released in Dutch under the title ‘Wit Licht’, ‘The Silent Army’ was written and directed by Jean van de Velde and stars Dutch musician and War Child Ambassador Marco Borsato, actors Abby Mukiibi Nkaaga, Thekla Reuten and Andrew Kintu. The film was released in Dutch theatres in early December 2008.
While the movie itself is fiction, the stories of the children in this movie are based on real life experiences of (former) child solders and other children affected by war who have taken part in War Child programmes.

The real story
War Child was involved in the production of the movie from the very beginning, offering knowledge and expertise about the problematic situation in Africa, particularly when it comes to child soldiers. By participating in the making of this film, War Child hoped to develop a script that was as authentic as possible. The actors in the movie were introduced to our programmes in order to help them prepare for their roles. Some of them were child soldiers themselves.

Cannes
The movie was selected at the 2009 Cannes Film festival under the category 'Une Certain Regard' and was received with an historically long standing ovation..


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