Venice Int'l Film Festival showcasing travails of children

American director Cary Fukunaga poses during the photocall for the movie "Beasts Of No Nation" at the 72nd Venice Film Festival, northern Italy September 3, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

Beasts of No Nation

by American director Cary Fukunaga, which premiered on the same day in the Venezia 72 section, also puts the fragility of a kid at the center.

The film follows the loss of innocence of Agu, a young boy in an unnamed West African country, as he attempts to find the remains of a childhood that seem so out of reach. The film is based on a highly-acclaimed novel by Nigerian author Uzodinma Iweala.

The audience in Venice met Agu playing with his older brother, making mischief with his friends at a refugee camp and enjoying dinner with his family.

But the happy routine of this childhood is shattered when army troops from the capital city arrive to squelch a rebellion against the country's corrupt regime. Agu escapes to the forest where he is discovered by a company of young rebels and is forced to become a soldier and take part in ruthless tribal warfare.

Asked at his film's press conference if exposing the plight of child soldiers could bring attention to the subject, Fukunaga said films do have the power to create awareness and positive change. But the issue of child soldiers, he added, is the way in which the irregular nature of many conflicts is waged now.

US director Brady Corbet's The Childhood of a Leader, scheduled to be presented at the festival on Saturday in the Orizzonti section -- dedicated to the latest cinema trends -- will also take a look at how harsh experiences witnessed in childhood can influence adult actions.

Inspired by the early childhood events of many of the great dictators of the 20th century, the film will follow the development of a terrifying ego in a child when his US family settles into the French countryside to work for the US government at the end of World War I.

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