Watch Cry Freetown

Cry Freetown is a documentary film from 2000 that explores the civil war that ravaged Sierra Leone in the late 1990s. The film was directed and produced by Sorious Samura, a Sierra Leonean journalist who experienced the conflict firsthand and wanted to share the stories of his fellow countrymen and women with the world. The film takes viewers on a journey through the streets of Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, where the conflict was perhaps most intense. Samura's camera captures images of bombed-out buildings, military checkpoints, and streets filled with people trying to go about their daily lives amidst the chaos.

One of the most powerful aspects of Cry Freetown is the way in which it humanizes the conflict by giving voice to those who lived through it. Samura interviews a wide range of people, from child soldiers who were forced to fight against their will to mothers who lost their children in the violence.

Through these interviews, we learn about the various factions that were fighting for control of Sierra Leone, and we see how the conflict tore apart communities and families. We also hear about the atrocities committed by both sides, including mutilation and rape.

What sets Cry Freetown apart from other documentaries about war and conflict is the way in which Samura allows his subjects to speak for themselves. There is no voice-over narration or talking-head experts telling us what to think. Instead, we hear directly from the people who experienced the war, and we see how it has affected them in profound and lasting ways.

One of the most striking scenes in the film is when Samura visits a hospital where victims of the conflict are being treated. We see young children with missing limbs, women with horrific scars, and men who have been left without eyes or ears. It is a profoundly moving sequence that brings home the human cost of the conflict in a visceral way.

Despite the harrowing subject matter, Cry Freetown is ultimately a hopeful film. We see how the people of Sierra Leone are working to rebuild their lives, even in the face of tremendous adversity. We see children going to school, families being reunited, and farmers returning to their fields. It is a reminder that even in the darkest of times, there is always hope for a better future.

Cry Freetown was released in 2000, but it remains a powerful and relevant document of a conflict that is too often forgotten. It is a film that should be seen by anyone who wants to understand the human cost of war, and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable suffering.