We Were Rebels – a fusion of rugged political landscape and optimism

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We Were Rebels. Picture: DocPoint

Born into war, as soon as Agel could lift a rifle, he did. He was a soldier before the age that most of us take our first driving test.

Now a father, a basketball lover, a reasonable voice in the community, and one of the many hopeful inhabitants of South Sudan, Agel takes us through the first two years of the country’s independence in the film ‘We Were Rebels’ (2014).

After his education abroad, Agel turns down full-time employment and returns home to South Sudan where he believes the country can now provide a happy, healthy future for both him and his family.

Captain of the basketball team

Full of inspiration, but never forgetting the reality of his upbringing, Agel captains South Sudan’s National Basketball team in one of their first international matches ever.

He points out that the country’s youth and inexperience are paralleled in the team’s poor play and lack of organisation.

When the final whistle blows, and South Sudan walks off the court defeated, you can feel a similar fate looming for the world’s youngest country.

An emotional collision

This film offers a cross-section of the rugged political landscape as well the eternal optimism of a population that knows nothing besides struggle and destruction.

Directors Florian Schewe and Katharina von Schroeder create an emotional collision that is both educational and confusing.

While the young people remain hopeful, they’re quick to point out the many obstacles that the country must face in order to have a functional democracy and an economy that can sustain growth and development for it’s inhabitants.

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