SYNOPSIS:
Written & Directed by Alex Fournier
Shot entirely on location in Kampala, the film is presented in Luganda (a native language of Uganda) with English subtitles.
Original music score composed by Matthew Fountain and Samuel Dyer.
AIDS, violence and abuse have caused huge numbers of orphans to flee to the dangerous streets of Uganda and fight for their own survival. Set against this background, "Abanunule (The Redeemed)" tracks the lives of a collection of former street boys who live together in a safe home in Kampala. When Elijah, one of the smallest of the orphans, is struck by a car in a hit-and-run, his friend Patrick races on foot to get help from Freddy, one of the older boys at the home. Together they carry the unconscious Elijah back to Uncle Henry, their house father.
Shot on the streets and in the alleys of Kampala the movie follows Freddy, one of the boys' home's key soccer players, as he leaves the home and turns back to drugs and violence. While the rest of the boys learn to live without Freddy and struggle to guide their fragile soccer team to the finals, Patrick never gives up hope. He sells what he can for taxi money and sets out alone to travel into the roughest parts of the city in order to find Freddy and bring him back.
The film uses a combination of first-person camera techniques and Patrick's reflective narration to provide rare insights into the daily struggles of African youth as they try to hold on to their future.
VISiON STATEMENT:
There are beautiful voices out there, voices that would make you cry, that would make you laugh, that would make you stand up and cheer, that would even compel you to action, but these voices are fragile and untapped. There are people who don't know that their voices have the power to change the world.
I made "Abanunule" to show the former orphan boys of "Home Again" in Kampala, Uganda, that their stories are worth telling, and to teach them that they do indeed have a voice and it is worth listening to. I also wanted to reach out to the orphans who still remain on the streets of Uganda and to give them a message of hope and redemption. And, finally, I wanted to demonstrate to Americans that orphans in the third world are more than just images on an infomercial about sending money; they are individuals who have dreams of their own, struggles of their own and a voice of their own.
I chose to create a feature film with the boys of "Home Again" to prove to them that hard work and dedication, along with a little of today's technology, can give their voices and their priceless stories a chance to be heard.