For over a decade the civil war in Sierra Leone waged, decimating innocent lives in the most horrific ways humans could design. Children were forced into recruitment. Hundreds of thousands were slain. The atrocities endured by civilians became notorious for their crude violence, with amputation being the most common form of torture. From this nightmare emerged thousands of refugees seeking shelter in the neighbouring nation of Guinea, where they were placed in camps and, although being displaced from their families and living in fairly simple conditions, found shared peace within this wounded but living community. It is a group of these survivors that is the subject for the documentary Refugee All Stars.

Film-makers Zach Niles and Banker White remain virtually invisible in this story, which expands three years. It’s the voices of the six musicians who make up the reggae/funk/traditional Sierra Leonean goombay band, the Refugee All Stars, that narrate the film. The musicians introduce themselves with candid retellings of their hardships in Sierra Leone and their belief in their music as a way to relieve the stress of living like a refugee. The film discusses the philosophical plight of returning home after the war is over’of wanting to ‘forgive and forget’, as one man says he can, or to sacrifice home for the sake of guaranteed safety. Percussionist Mohammed watched his parents and wife murdered by rebels, and after forcing him to kill his child, they cut off his hand. He finds it harder than the others to repatriate, and tearily states ‘If I saw the man that did this on the street, I would not be fine with it.’

With the interweaving of real footage and personal stories of the war, and the music and the native Creole language Krio spoken and sung, the documentary is masterfully made and a real pleasure to watch.

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