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'The Refugee All Stars' to be screened at the Edinburgh Film Festival, Thursday 24 & 26 August
London, August 23 (UNHCR)- A moving film depicting the lives of a group of musicians forced to flee their homes during Sierra Leone's brutal decade-long (1991-2002) civil war for the protection of UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) camps will be screened this week at the Edinburgh Film Festival.
The feature-length documentary film, 'The Refugee All Stars', will be screened on 24 and 26 August in Edinburgh. It follows the band over the course of three years as they make their way from refugee camps back to their homes in war-ravaged Sierra Leone.
During the conflict the Sierra Leonean artists, who brought new meaning to the adage 'struggling musician,' lost many loved ones and were left with physical and emotional scars that may never heal.
However, what the brutal war could never take from them was their music. Through music, the band found a place of refuge, a sense of purpose and a source of power.
Amidst the tragedy of recognising all that has been lost, 'The Refugee All Stars' depicts the band realising their dream of recording an album of their original songs.
'The Refugee All Stars' was written, directed and produced by Zach Niles and Banker White, with support from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), CARE, Save the Children and the Film Arts Foundation.
Musicians and film-makers, Zach Niles and Banker White first visited refugee camps in Guinea in the summer of 2002. Travelling together with UNHCR field officer Alphonse Munyaneza who co-produced the film, the pair were awed by the role music played in refugee camps.
'The Refugee All Stars have a story that we can relate to, music that we can dance to. They bring a human touch to all refugee crises reported on the west,' said Niles
'The Refugee All Stars' will be showing at The Edinburgh International Film Festival on Thursday 24 August at 19.30 and Saturday 26 August 15.00 at Cineworld. Director Zach Niles and Co-Producer Alphonse Munyaneza will be present to answer questions. Proceeds from the screenings will go to FilmAid International.
The Refugee All Stars support www.ninemillion.org, a new web-based campaign by the UN Refugee Agency and its partners to improve the lives of children in refugee camps through education and sports.
Nine million refers to the number of uprooted children in the world. Two-thirds of the money raised through www.ninemillion.org will be used by UNHCR for education projects in refugee camps, benefiting girls in particular. The remaining third will fund sport and play programmes by Right to Play, a charity that uses sport and play to enhance child development in refugee camps and other areas of disadvantage.
Story date: 23 August 2006
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