Liberia
Liberia: An Uncivil War
Liberia: An Uncivil War / Jonathan Stack & James Brabazon / USA / 2004 / 102 min / English
In the summer of 2003, the lengthy power struggle between the rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) and government leader Charles Taylor (indicted by the United Nations for crimes against humanity) reaches its climax with the imminent capture of the Liberian capital Monrovia. Taylor promises to step down, but when a peacekeeping force is in place. The rebels also say they will welcome peacekeepers. Co-Directors Jonathan Stack and James Brabazon film both sides of the conflict. Stack is in Monrovia, where he interviews Taylor, follows inhabitants (including a teacher and the archbishop) and films in the hospital and the sports stadium crammed with refugees, while more and more bullets whiz past his ears. Brabazon is with the rebels, mostly boys, on their way to Monrovia under their leader Sekov Domate Conneh: he films the taking of the capital, the fighting and looting, from close up.
A remarkable documentary, filled with tense and gruesome footage that gives a vivid sense of life in a war zone.
producer | Jonathan Stack
camera | Jonathan Stack, James Brabazon, Axel Baumann, Tim Hetherington
editor | Michael Kovalenko
music | Barney McAll
