Africa United

(M) Hopscotch DVD

Africa United is a comedy/drama road trip movie that skips along to the joy and the pain of modern Africa.

Soccer playing prodigy Fabrice (Roger Nsengiyumva) is talent-scouted but the trip to the trials for a spot playing at the opening ceremony of the 2010 World Cup doesn’t go as planned by his “manager”, the orphaned DuDu (Eriya Ndayambaj).

And so the adventure begins. On their way to the World Cup, their team grows as they pick up escaped child-soldier Foreman George (Yves Dusenge) and rescue Beatrice (Sanyu Joanita Kintu) from doing shady hostess work for her white sugar daddy.

This is not a film for throwing on to keep the young ones out of your hair and entertained for an hour and a half. With the real and unavoidable issues that face Africa — AIDS, AIDS orphans, safe sex, child soldiers, disease, refugees and child prostitution — as part of the backdrop of the story, this is a movie for the whole family to watch together, and is all the better for that.

With a fantastic soundtrack and beautiful scenery, Africa United triumphs with a moving bitter-sweet ending of the type Hollywood rarely attempts. Recommended.

Dave Cornford