アフリカ東部のウガンダを舞台に、人生を取り戻そうともがく元こども兵たちと、彼らを支える日本のNPOの活動を追ったドキュメンタリー。 ウガンダでは、反政府武装組織LRA（神の抵抗軍）と政府軍が20年以上にわたり戦闘を繰り広げてきた。内戦中、LRAは3万人以上の子どもたちを誘拐し、男子は戦闘に駆り出し、女子は兵士と強制結婚させた。その後、LRAは隣国に潜伏し、子どもの誘拐を続けている。2023年、元こども兵とその家族の約140人が、武装勢力の活動地域から逃げてきた。「リターニーズ（帰還者たち）」と呼ばれる彼らは、幼少時に誘拐され、心に深いトラウマを植えつけられ、人生そのものを奪われてきた。過酷な環境のなかで育った彼らはまともに教育を受けておらず、基本的な衣食住を満たすことも難しい。 元こども兵の社会復帰を支援するNPO法人テラ・ルネッサンスの小川真吾理事は、3年間におよぶ訓練プログラムをつくり、彼らが自尊心を取り戻し、生きる場を見つけるまで寄り添い続ける。そんな彼らの活動を2年間にわたって記録し、社会復帰のための第一歩を踏み出した元こども兵たちの姿を映し出す。
Set in Uganda, East Africa, this documentary follows former child soldiers struggling to reclaim their lives and the efforts of a Japanese NPO supporting them. For over 20 years, Uganda was gripped by conflict between the government and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), an anti-government insurgent group. During the civil war, the LRA abducted more than 30,000 children, forcing boys into combat and girls into forced marriages with soldiers. The LRA continues to operate from neighboring countries, where they still carry out child abductions. In 2023, approximately 140 former child soldiers and their families escaped from these active conflict zones. Known as "returnees," these individuals were kidnapped as children, deeply traumatized, and robbed of their futures. Having grown up in brutal conditions, they lack formal education and struggle to meet even their most basic needs. Shingo Ogawa, a director of the NPO Terra Renaissance, has developed a three-year training program to support their reintegration, standing by them as they work to regain their self-esteem and find a place in society. Recording these efforts over a period of two years, the film captures the former child soldiers as they take their first courageous steps toward a new life.
Source: cinematokyo.com · Tokyo mini-theater & independent cinema showtimes.