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Canada Once Again at the Oscars: Kim Nguyen’s Rebelle , the Tale of an African Girl Child Soldier

2015; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 45; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/02722011.2015.1120761

1943-9954

Paula Ruth Gilbert, Mary Jean Green,

Communism, Protests, Social Movements

In 2013, for the third year in a row, a Canadian film by a Québec director was named a finalist for the US Oscar in Best Foreign Films. Kim Nguyen's Rebelle (War Witch), about child soldiers in Africa, continued and expanded the focus on international issues that had characterized the two previous Canadian nominees, Denis Villeneuve's Incendies and Philippe Falardeau's Monsieur Lazare. One of the few films to treat the worldwide problem of children abducted and forced to participate in combat, Rebelle is unusual in taking as its central character a young girl. Although Komona is forcibly abducted, made to shoot her own parents and engage in combat, Nguyen also allows his character a romantic relationship and a surprisingly happy ending. In detailing the steps of his girl soldier's reintegration into society, accompanied by her illegitimate child, Nguyen's project seems to echo the findings of important studies sponsored by the Canadian International Development Agency.