All across Uganda, students from 20,000 primary schools compete to win the nation’s music and dance competition. Nobody expected that one of the finalists would be from the war zone.

War Dance opens in wide release in major American cities this weekend. It has been critically acclaimed, including winning the Documentary Directing Award at Sundance. Most wonderful of all, it is not a tale of suffering and victimization, but one of resilience and triumph. These are the Acholi the world should see.

See the extended trailer here, and tell me you don’t want to see this film. The official movie site is here.

The stunning soundtrack is from an Acholi exile, Geoffrey Oryema. The album, Exile, cn be purchased through most major music sellers, including iTunes.