Theatre of Violence

Synopsis

Ugandan lawyer Krispus Ayena has been assigned to the most prominent case of his career: defending the first former child soldier to be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Dominic Ongwen was only 9 years old when he was abducted on his way to school, as were an estimated more than 20,000 other children, by Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). Intimidated and indoctrinated, he quickly learned to kill or be killed. Theatre of Violence follows Ayena and his team as they prepare for Ongwen’s defence - asking vital questions in an unfolding debate on what accountability entails when someone is both victim and perpetrator; and grappling with the underlying issue of what justice looks like when being conducted in an international court, far away from key cultural and historical context. The film asks - is the ICC imposing a new form of colonialism on Uganda?

Director Biography

Emil Langballe studied documentary filmmaking at the British National Film and Television School. His graduation film Beach Boy was screened at numerous film festivals and was awarded at festivals such as Karlovy Vary, Thessaloniki and Toronto’s Hot Docs. Lukasz Konopa studied sociology in Poland before he did a MA in documentary filmmaking at the National Film and Television School in the UK. His films have been screened at numerous festivals, such as Hot Docs, Camerimage, True/False and SXSW. After was awarded Best Documentary by CILECT.