'I Don't Know' - Original music created and recorded by the talented Andrew Starr.

Written for the documentary 'A Brilliant Genocide' and inspired by the filmmakers journey.

Video by Atlantic Star Productions, 2015. Featuring Ebony Butler.

abrilliantgenocide.com

Background - Northern Uganda Conflict:

Chris Dolan (2009) captures the dynamic of northern Ugandan civilians stuck in the cross-fire of the LRA and GoU in his book, Social Torture. Dolan persuasively argues that the war is “a form of mass torture, whose principal victims are the population within the 'war zone', and whose ultimate function is the subordinate inclusion of the population in northern Uganda.” The primary locus of 'social torture' was the IDP camps, named “protection villages” by the GoU, although more akin to “concentration camps” according to Rodriguez (2009, 104), Branch (2007a, 181) and Mwenda (2010, 55). In these camps, Dolan (2009, 1) finds the symptoms and tactics of mass torture: “widespread violation, dread, disorientation, dependency, debilitation and humiliation”. Finnstrom (2008, 133) makes a similar argument suggesting that the IDP camps constituted a form of structural violence against the people of northern Uganda, wherein “cultural and social agency diminish as the logic of domination and violence enter the most private spheres of everyday life.” Human rights groups have tended to agree. One report, prepared for United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), concluded that “the overall picture is one of severe destitution” (Weeks 2002, 5; see also Dolan 2009, 221) and, moreover, while direct violations of rights were commonplace, the camps' “most damaging achievement of all has been to inflict economic and social paralysis on an entire society, which has thereby been reduced to destitution and dependency.” (Weeks 2002, 4). Some suggest that upwards of 1,000 people died per week, not from rebel attacks but as a result of the squalid conditions within the camps themselves (Mwenda 2010, 56; see also The Republic of Uganda Ministry of Health 2005). This represented a death toll that far exceeded what the rebels did or could achieve (Mwenda 2010, 56).

This film is a video montage from my time on the border of Thailand and Cambodia. Filmed in Poipet, the video attempts to express what life is like for the innocent children forced into slavery and child labour and also those dying from AIDS, which is an ever growing problem in the region.

Child labour, sexual exploitation, human slavery, child trafficking, disease, poverty and famine is rampant and destroying thousands of lives everyday, effecting society as a whole. The children and women are the ones who suffer the most and much aid and international action is needed to help this troubled nation.

Our community projects, both local and global, involve activities that promote social change, for the betterment of society as a whole and for the protection of our planet. We recycle, restore and deliver bicycles to the most marginalized and isolated groups affected directly by war, poverty or disease. Furthermore, we use the power of media to raise awareness of the most important, under reported and time critical issues. We aim to create a more positive attitude toward caring for people in need, regardless of race or religion, promote action within the community and strive to bring about social change.

bikes4life.com.au
childtroopers.com
atlanticstarproductions.com

St. George is a 15 minute short film I produced in 2007 while at film school. The film features top Australian actors such as Vince Colosimo, Kate Kendall, Steve Bastoni and emerging artists Kate Neilson and Dale Reeves.

Here's a clip from Mad Vs bad (Child Troopers)

Currently in post-production.

The film will be finished by the end of 2015!

Title still undecided!