This Human World Film Festival - No Place for a Rebel
Sixteen years after rebels abducted him as a child, Opono Opondo returns home to Uganda as an adult war commander. Now he has to readapt to civil society.
Interview with Directors Ariadne Asimakopoulos and Maartje Wegdam
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
We all know stories of child soldiers. But what happens after they return home? Ariadne had conducted a research in northern Uganda on the question of what happens to former child soldiers of the Lord’s Resistence Army when they return to their communities. Maartje’s background is in documentary film and together we decided to go back to Uganda together to find a character who had been abducted at a young age and grew up within the LRA to become an adult commander. We set out to follow him on this journey of finding his place back home.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
In a conflict we prefer to draw a line between victims and perpetrators so we can hold those who are responsible accountable. The reality however is often much more complex. This film, about a young man who balances the fine line between victim and perpetrator, explores what it is to be a survivor in this reality. No Place for a Rebel centers the uncomfortable quietness of the present instead of the past turmoil and violence. It poses questions rather than providing clear cut answers and challenges the audience to think about what successful reintegration really means.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
From very close-by, the film shows Opono’s fight for his future, while struggling to come to terms with his past and to reconcile with his family. This story raises the question of what is needed to feel again a sense of belonging. This applies to many of people who return from or leave behind or grew up in conflict and have to adjust in a new place.
Also the film comes at a moment when for the first time a former child soldier is being prosecuted at the International Criminal Court. He faces charges for the same crimes of which he is a victim. The trial poses difficult dilemmas regarding the prosecution of (grown up) child soldiers.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
As many returnees fear stigmatization and/or retaliation for instance from their community, it proved to be difficult to find a protagonist who just had come back home and was willing to really let us into his life at a very vulnerable period. After we met Opono we had been following him for three years. It was really unpredictable how his life and the story would evolve and we didn’t know how the film would be ending until it ended. But we could hold on to several core elements: the various physical and mental obstacles he was facing while striving for a new life, his reflections on his past and several wonderful characters in the film who are trying to help him in their own ways.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Audiences in general react really positively to the film. After a crisis, media and NGO’s usually move on to the next and people tell us that often we do not realize the aftermath of a conflict like the one in northern Uganda. People are often moved by seeing what still remains unresolved up to this day and comment that they really feel that they ‘get in the main character’s head’, which really helps to understand his situation.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Reactions from different audiences around the world have rather strengthened our point of view that there exist little awareness on the concerns regarding reintegration of former fighters worldwide and that a very personal stories can help audiences identify and connect with seemingly far away and abstract issue.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
We’re currently tapping into the international festival/distribution circuit and looking for fresh ways to distribute this film and have as many people as possible enjoy it.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
Sales agents, distributors, film festivals and journalists, yes please!
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
To enable people in general to place themselves in the shoes of the protagonist to better understand the complexity of his situation and make them aware of the the needs of returning fighters.
The question of reintegration applies to many other young people who grew up fighting in armed conflicts worldwide, for instance in Colombia, Afghanistan and Syria. Therefore we also aim to use the film to put the reintegration of former fighters higher on the international agenda and spark dialogue among broad audiences (both general audiences as well as policy makers, key influencers, program developers in the international community) on what successful reintegration means for whom and how to enable people to become productive members of their societies.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
What should be the role, the responsibility of individuals, the local and international community as a whole to make former fighters feel at home again?
Would you like to add anything else?
For people who want to know more or would like to get in touch, please find us at www.noplaceforarebel.com
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
At the moment we are focusing on getting as many people as possible to see the film!
Interview: November 2017
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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
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No Place for a Rebel
Sixteen years after rebels abducted him as a child, Opono Opondo returns home to Uganda as an adult war commander. Now he has to readapt to civil society.
Length: 76 minutes
Director: Ariadne Asimakopoulos and Maartje Wegdam
Producer: Milos Film
Writer: Ariadne Asimakopoulos and Maartje Wegdam
About the writer, director and producer:
Maartje Wegdam is a director and cameraperson and graduated from the Documentary Media Studies program at The New School. Ariadne Asimakopoulos has a background in Conflict Studies and Human Rights (MA). In 2010 she conducted research in northern Uganda on reintegration and justice in the case of people who are both victim and perpetrators of violence. No Place for a Rebel is their first feature.
Key cast:
Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists):
Sales agents, buyers, distributors, festival directors, journalists
Social media handles:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/noplaceforarebel
Funders: MWH4impact, Nederlands Film Fonds, Media and Democracy Foundation, Dutch Postcode Lottery, Free Press Unlimited, Amsterdam Fund for the Arts
Made in association with: Copper Views Film Production
Where will the film screen in the next month? This Human World Film Festival Vienna, Theatrical release in cities throughout the Netherlands.
Statement:
Ariadne Asimakopoulos and Maartje Wegdam
“Yes, when we came back to Uganda and screened it, coincidentally Opono had returned to Uganda and was in Gulu at the exact period when we were there, so we were able to meet him and show him the film and his reaction was really quite positive,” says Maartje. “He found it confronting, of course, and painful to watch himself in a very vulnerable position onscreen, but on the other hand he felt that it reflected his experiences from the time, and he also felt – which was interesting – that, I mean, he’s been in the army now for a year, and he’s had many other experiences, and he really grew in self-confidence and in a sense of strength and belonging, and he really looked healthier too, and stronger, and he felt like he was back into a place of progress. So he said he felt that he was really looking back at something, he was looking at something from the past rather than still being in the same position.”
Ariadne hopes that the film can be useful in educating people. “The people in northern Uganda who lived through the conflict obviously know what has happened to people in the bush, what they were put through, what they were made to do, because they talk about it – they talk to their children, to their neighbours. People were sensitised about this, but at the same time there’s also a taboo on these personal stories or who did what exactly or how people are doing now, like what I said about trauma. This is not something people are used to talking about. So the film can play a role in opening this discussion and it shouldn’t be done, maybe, in a very public way, but it’s possible that it can help people to understand that even after so many years it’s still an issue that people face every day. People still face challenges, the people who went into the LRA, like our main character, and also of course the people around him. In the scene with his family you can see that there’s a lot of pain and there’s a distance between them.
“That’s in northern Uganda. I think in the rest of Uganda it can also be a tool to create understanding or even raise awareness about what has happened in the north, because the way it was written about in the media, it was presented in a very limited way, not so much showing different sides to the conflict. The rebels were the rebels, framed as evil people, crazy people, and even now we see that many people in Kampala don’t really know what the situation is like now in the north, although there hasn’t been war for ten years.”
If you would like to screen the film or help support Opono, you can enquire at info@noplaceforarebel.com.
Maartje Wegdam is a director and cameraperson and graduated from the Documentary Media Studies program at The New School. Ariadne Asimakopoulos has a background in Conflict Studies and Human Rights (MA). In 2010 she conducted research in northern Uganda on reintegration and justice in the case of people who are both victim and perpetrators of violence. No Place for a Rebel is their first feature.