CHAOS IN CENTRAL AFRICA REIGNS IN BEASTS OF NO NATION
Continual civil war reaches the town where 12-year-old Agu (played by Abraham Attah) is living with his family soon after Beasts of No Nation begins. When government forces are about to enter the town to track down rebels, women and babies flee, men stand their ground, and Agu joins other children in disbelief that disaster will happen. Soldiers enter, round up suspects for execution, and Agu sneaks into the jungle (filming is in Ghana) in fear of his life. Ultimately, Agu reaches a rebel army, becomes a child soldier, and is initiated into the role of gun-toting killer by the Commandant (Idris Elba). In time, however, he tires of all the blood and smell of death. One of the army decides to defect, followed by Agu and the other children, and they are rescued by UN forces. Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and based on the novel by Uzodinma Iweala, Beasts of No Nation sketches the context in which orphaned children become soldiers to avoid death by starvation who could be pacified if only the UN had more resources. For that reason, the Political Film Society has nominated Beasts of No Nation as best film promoting peace in 2015. MH