ABOUT

In the summer of 2003, Liberia, America s oldest African ally, is in total chaos. Stunning in its access and images, LIBERIA: AN UNCIVIL WAR offers a compelling behind-the-scenes account of the internecine military conflict that destroyed the nation. The film splits its time between the regime of the corrupt President Charles Taylor and his supporters in the capital city of Monrovia and the rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) as the rebels advance on the capital after taking control of much of the country with their army of predominantly teenage soldiers, some of whom engage in ritualistic cannibalism because they believe it will protect them against their enemies. There is no protection for the tens of thousands of innocent civilians caught in the escalating conflict--just pleas and prayers for an intervention from the United States--an intervention that would not come.