During a civil war insub-Saharan Africa, a 12-year-old girl named Komona is abducted by a rebel group who raided her village to become a child soldier under awarlord known as the Great Tiger. The rebels compel Komona to kill her own parents. Then, she is sailed to a deserted island with many more children. They are used as porters, then taught to use automatic weapons and forced to go to war with the rebels. After drinking tree sap, she begins to experience vivid hallucinations. When her visions enable her to survive an attack, she is considered to be achild witch and is viewed as an asset by the Great Tiger.
Komona and her young love interest, a boy withalbinism known as Magician, eventually escape the rebels and move to live with her uncle. He hopes to marry her, and she asks him to capture a rare white rooster to secure her agreement. He does so but she is tracked down and kidnapped by one of the Great Tiger's commanders, and Magician is killed. After Komona becomes the commander'sconcubine, she kills him and runs away to her uncle, narrating her life story to her fetus. On the way to her hometown, to bury her parents who have been haunting her, she gives birth to a baby boy whom she names after the magician.
DirectorKim Nguyen wrote the screenplay after reading about child soldiers in Burma.
Montreal directorKim Nguyen wrote the screenplay over a period of 10 years, inspired by an article about children inBurma leading a rebellion force.[2] In researching the film, Nguyen met real child soldiers and humanitarian staff. He envisioned his project as "a redemption story about a child who lives through war and peace."[3]
War Witch was primarily filmed in theDemocratic Republic of the Congo.[4] Nguyen discoveredRachel Mwanza and numerous otherchild actors for his cast inKinshasa, DRC, after open auditions.[5][6] Mwanza had never acted before,[7] and was 15 by September 2012. Nguyen said that "Rachel was living in the streets before we did the film".[6][8] Besides the novice Congolese actors, professional Canadian actors joined the cast.[9]
Most ofWar Witch was filmed in the order of the story.[3] It was only the second film shot in the DRC in 25 years, and due to security concerns, the crew was accompanied by soldiers withAK-47s, and insurance was challenging to obtain.[10][11]
Congolese actressRachel Mwanza received positive reviews and awards for her performance.
War Witch has a 94% approval rating onRotten Tomatoes, based on 63 reviews, and an average rating of 8/10. The website's critical consensus states: "War Witch is a mature, intense drama that embraces the bruatlity [sic] of its subject and invites the audience to sympathize with its protagonist's nightmarish circumstances".[14] It also has a score of 84 out of 100 onMetacritic, based on 16 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[15]
Guy Dixon, writing forThe Globe and Mail, gave the film three stars, saying it transcended war films andRachel Mwanza gave a great performance.[16] TheNational Post rated it three stars, declaring it "a film you won’t be able to look away from no matter how hard you want to".[13] Jay Stone ofThe Winnipeg Free Press assessed the film as "harrowing" with "strikingly authentic performances", including from Mwanza.[17]
Stephen Holden'sThe New York Times review complimented the film for its portrayal of Komona, lacking luridness or smugness.[18] InVariety, Leslie Felperin said the treatment was appropriately "harrowing" for the topic, and positively reviewed Nguyen's aptitude.[19]The Boston Globe'sTy Burr assessed it as "grim yet clear-eyed, and it seeks out glimmers of hope in individual resilience and in the connections that bind us together".[20]
The film was Canada's entry in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the85th Academy Awards.[23] [24] It was a rare Canadian submission for featuring a substantial amount of Lingala as well as French.[25] It was among nine shortlisted in December 2012,[26] and became one of the five nominees.[27] Mwanza received a visa to allow her to attend the Academy Awards.[7] It was the third consecutive Quebec film nominated, followingIncendies andMonsieur Lazhar, with Nguyen proclaiming "People around the world are looking at Quebec cinema now and waiting for the next director to come out of here. This has a tremendous impact on a country’s recognition outside of its borders".[28]
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