Liberia: an uncivil war
Director Jonathan Stack
Countries United States
Duration 102 min
Synopsis
The summer of 2003 in Liberia was hellish: two armies fought the last battle of a civil war that had been going on for 15 years, surrounding the capital, whilst thousands died due to exploding mortars thrown from a distance. The soldiers, for the most part adolescents, faced eachother in a bloody, urban battle as the country prayed for the arrival of American forces who may have been able to put an end to the violence. Liberia, a country founded by emancipated American slaves, has a long history linked to that of America. The film shows the complexity of the various levels of the Liberian conflict and calls attention to the moral failings of the United States' response to the growth of a humanitarian crisis.
The summer of 2003 in Liberia was hellish: two armies fought the last battle of a civil war that had been going on for 15 years, surrounding the capital, whilst thousands died due to exploding mortars thrown from a distance. The soldiers, for the most part adolescents, faced eachother in a bloody, urban battle as the country prayed for the arrival of American forces who may have been able to put an end to the violence. Liberia, a country founded by emancipated American slaves, has a long history linked to that of America. The film shows the complexity of the various levels of the Liberian conflict and calls attention to the moral failings of the United States' response to the growth of a humanitarian crisis.