Sierra Leone: A Culture of Silence
Thirteen years after a vicious civil war forced him to flee his childhood home of Sierra Leone, director Raouf J Jacob’s returns to find meaning in a place once forsaken by the rest of the world.
Travelling across the country, he explores the sensitive environmental, social and cultural issues that, even today, remain taboo. He searches for the lost boys, former child soldiers living in the shadows, to see how successful attempts to reintegrate them in society have been.
He investigates Sierra Leone’s controversial diamond mining industry and the role and actions of foreign companies in the country and asks what he believes is the most important question in African politics, is there still blood on the stone?
And finally, he journeys with one of the most notorious and controversial women in Sierra Leone and gains exclusive access to the secret Bondo society, where millions of young girls in Africa experience what they call their “Secret Pain”.
PRODUCTION INFO
- Year: 2014
- Duration: 84&53 mins
- Production: WORLDWIDE CINEMA FRAMES
- Director: RAOUF J. JACOB
- Available Versions:
ENG
- Country of production: USA
VOD LINKS
FESTIVALS & AWARDS
- Awards: BEST INDIE SPEC CONTENT DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM AWARD (2014 BOSTON INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL); SILVER PLAM AWARD FOR DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM (2014 MEXICO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL);BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM AWARD (2014 NEW YORK CITY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL); WINNER 2014 BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM AWARD (2014 16TH ANNUAL ROXBURY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL); DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM AWARD (2014 Chicago International Social Change Film Festival); DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM AWARD (2014 Silicon Valley African Film Festival); Achievement in Documentary Film Award (2015 Silicon Valley African Film Festival).
Festivals
BOSTON INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL; MEXICO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL; NEW YORK CITY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL; 16TH ANNUAL ROXBURY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL; MARCHE DU FILM, FESTIVAL DE CANNES; Chicago International Social Change Film Festival; Silicon Valley African Film Festival.
