War Dance.

"War Dance, a visually ravishing documentary that follows a group of schoolchildren from a refugee camp in northern Uganda to a national music competition, raises a fundamental issue for filmmakers confronting unimaginable suffering in war-torn African countries," writes Stephen Holden in the New York Times. "To what degree should human savagery be softened, sweetened and presented in a spirit of hope to make it palatable to a movie audience?"

"[I]n the existing marketplace, entertainment, not social consciousness, is the currency - hence this wake-up call couched in a strenuously upbeat inspirational sports doc," writes Jim Ridley in the Voice.

Updated through 11/14.

"To make a memorable documentary, a film like Hoop Dreams or Spellbound that can't be forgotten once seen, you have to be more than gifted, you need an instinct for an unusual story and, frankly, you must have luck on your side," writes Kenneth Turan in the Los Angeles Times. "War Dance... has all that and more."

"Between the two of them, filmmakers Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine have written, produced and shot documentaries in over 30 countries and for outlets like National Geographic, ABC News Frontline and The Discovery Channel. But it wasn't until War Dance (now without the slash between the words as it was titled on the festival circuit) that the married couple had ever directed their own feature together, for which they won the Directing Award at this year's Sundance Film Festival." And Aaron Hillis talks with them for IFC News.

IndieWIRE's got an interview, too.

Update, 11/11: For the Los Angeles Times, Tom Roston talks with ThinkFilm's Mark Urman about why he's picked up this doc and with the directors about their choices. Says Fine: "I mean, a little girl is talking about her parents' heads being taken out of a pot in front of her, and she's telling me this story interwoven with impressions of heat coming off of grass and the sound of flies in her ear. That's what inspired those shots."

Update, 11/14: "Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine artfully interweave politics, personal stories and performance, and all three areas of the film seem in perfect harmony as they inform and inspire one another," writes Cullen Gallagher of this "unique and highly effective documentary" in the L Magazine.

Posted by dwhudson at November 9, 2007 8:08 AM