Meet Grace, Milly and Lucy… and learn the truth about child soldiers

Raymonde Provencher’s film Grace, Milly, Lucy… Child Soldiers will shock you. It exposes the little-known tragedy of child soldiers in Uganda, and explores how they can possibly live normal lives after being trained to become killing machines. The film screens at the Hot Docs Film Festival, now taking place in Toronto. Raymonde kindly answered a few questions for me:

Julie Matlin: How did this project come about?

Raymonde Provencher: From many works I have done in Africa and around the world, starting with War Babies and then, followed by Blue Helmets: Peace and Dishonour. I have seen the plight of many ex-girl child soldiers, suffering in silence in face of our indifference.

JM: What was the single most shocking thing you learned during the making of this film?

RP: That we – in the North- believe that those girls, having had such a painful experience, can just forget about the past and go ahead in life… as if nothing happened to them..

JM: What do you want people to take away from this film?

RP: That a little help can make a big difference. If we are serious when we say we want to curb violence around the world, there is no other way than to take care of the victims who need assistance, and JUSTICE.

For screening information at the festival, check the Hot Docs website.