Episode Information

When you’ve been to hell and back, how do you shake the memories? This question has haunted General Roméo Dallaire since 1994, when he was UN Force Commander during the Rwandan genocide, explored in our award-winning documentary Shake Hands with the Devil. Now, Dallaire has found a reason to live: embarking on a global mission to end the use of child soldiers. Will Dallaire succeed where others have failed? Or will he once again be forced to look on as the world turns away? The subject of child soldiers understandably attracts interest. There is nothing as troubling as a stolen childhood. How do you recover after being compelled to kill—a fate facing 300,000 children, boys and girls, fighting in 30 conflicts around the world? This phenomenon has been explored in documentaries before, of course. However, as we experienced making Shake Hands, there is something uniquely compelling about Dallaire—his charisma, candor, and experience captivates an audience. This is a film about child soldiers, but with Dallaire as the entry-point: why he’s consumed by this issue; what he’s learned and is learning; and why, after all the horrors he’s seen, he remains driven. We follow Dallaire on an unforgettable mission to some of the frontlines of Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan, in particular) meeting with recently demobilized child soldiers, and their commanders, one soldier to another. If the Kony 2012 viral video and subsequent fall-out left you either unabashedly inspired or profoundly cynical, pause a moment and reconsider. Think you have the child soldier issue figured out? Think again. Director: Patrick Reed Executive Producers: Peter Raymont & Janice Dawe Producers: Peter Raymont & Patrick Reed http://www.whitepinepictures.com/fight-like-soldiers-die-like-children/?v=79cba1185463