Dominic Ongwen was nine when he was abducted from his village in northern Uganda and conscripted as a child soldier by the notorious Lord’s Resistance Army rebel group led by Joseph Kony. As a boy, Ongwen was a victim, brutalised and brainwashed; in adulthood, he progressed up the ranks, becoming a feared LRA commander. This film follows his trial at the international criminal court, where he was convicted of 61 individual charges of murder, rape, sexual slavery, abduction and torture. Ongwen is the first former child soldier to be convicted by the court and one question raised by this documentary is how far is he morally responsible for his crimes?
It’s a tough watch, with some extremely harrowing moments. The documentary was shot over six years by film-makers Lukasz Konopa and Emil Langballe, who skilfully broaden out their story with helpful context to explain the conflict in Uganda, stretching back to colonial powers carving up the continent.
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