Amnesty Pre-Screening EventI'm no film critic, but I thought the portrayal of forced recruitment of children into the El Salvadorean forces was an audience eye-opener. No matter how much exposure I get to what children endure in situations of armed conflict, I'm still shaken by it. There were a lot of issues to be discussed after this film. I was surprised to find out in the Q&A session with the writer (story is based on his life experience), the director, and cast that they were not aware of the use of child soldiers around the world, nor the role of NGOs and the UN in demobilizing and reintegrating former soldiers back into civilian life.
No doubt, it's important that the media present the issue of child soldiers to the public. But I find it unfortunate that beyond the tragedy and chaos, we don't know much else in the way of what is being done to push for child participation in peace agreements and conflict management/post-conflict resolution, for formal demobilization and reintegration, & for aftercare and skills training to secure opportunities for a future. Lord forbid I sound like an optimist, but it shouldnt be about the fascination of how horrible humans can be to one another...because as strange as it is, children make and find their own hope, giving us reasons to try harder to support them.
