The full-length documentary, NEVER GIVE UP, NEVER GIVE is based on the life of Emmanuel Jal. In the early 1980s, at the age of seven, Jal was swept into Sudan’s civil war, becoming one of 10,000 child soldiers conscripted on both sides of the two decades’ long conflict. The film has been touring the film festival circuit. It premiered at the Berlinale festival and won the Cadillac audience choice award at the Tribeca film festival.
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Emmanuel was adopted by the now legendary British aid worker Emma McCune; Shortly after she adopted Jal, McCune died in a suspicious car crash, leaving Emmanuel “orphaned” once again. Jal rises from ruthless child soldier to refugee to rap star. He finds his own redemption and life mission through a message of peace that represents one of the 21st centuries’ most inspiring and hopeful journeys, and a metaphor for the broader African predicament.
Emmanuel’s journey is, in many ways, just beginning. His dream of Gua, peace, in Sudan, and prosperity in Africa, is threatened by corrupt leaders, genocidal warlords, and Western indifference. Hopefully, Emmanuel’s peace – his quest to make the world a better place through his music, activism and youth education – will prove to be far more significant than Emmanuel’s former war.
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