RickWilkinson
Jul 17, 2006 12:17PM

"Journey Into Sunset is a quietly powerful film about one family's voyage of discovery to Uganda. Don Cheadle and filmmaker Rick Wilkinson allow us to share that eye-opening experience. I don't know how anyone could come away unmoved. Leonard Maltin"

captainwacky42
Jul 07, 2006 11:24AM

I had the privilege of watching Journey into Sunset on a fine sunny Saturday at the LA Film Festival. One would probably need to be made of stone to be unmoved by the story of tens of thousands of Ugandan children being kidnapped and forced to commit grizzly atrocities in the service of a rebel movement that began before they were even born. Yet, despite the obvious humanitarian significance of this story, Western media coverage is virtually nonexistent (as seems to be the norm when it comes to the tragedies that occur in so many of the weakened states in post-colonial Africa).

It is precisely because of this unfortunate dearth of media coverage, that I am so grateful to the director, Rick Wilkinson, for making this well-crafted film and to Don Cheadle for throwing the weight of his celebrity status behind such an admirable cause. It is always a pleasure for me to see folks getting behind a good cause, and Don Cheadle went above and beyond conventional donations to charity to actually taking his family to meet the Ugandan children face to face.

I was also lucky enough to talk briefly with Rick after the screening. A crowd of other folks from the audience also had questions about the film, and Rick took the time to thoughtfully address all of their questions. It was amazing to hear that Rick’s career as a journalist had taken him to Somalia and Rwanda, before he went to Uganda to make Journey into Sunset.

I hope that Rick has plans in the works to produce other films that might have a similar positive impact on other folk who, like me, are not likely to even hear about such stories, if not through the good work of filmmakers like him. I am curious to know how Journey into Sunset will be distributed once it finishes its run on the festival circuit. As far as I’m concerned, the more folk who see the film, the better! Also curious to know whether/how the Cheadle family has continued their support of the Ugandan “night commuters”.

Anyhoo, I’ll wrap up my thoughts by once again expressing my gratitude to Rick for making a great film, to the Cheadle family for caring enough to get involved in an important cause, and to all the film festivals that have given people the opportunity to see Journey into Sunset. Rick, make more films!

captainwacky42
Jul 04, 2006 09:10PM

I had the privilege of watching Journey into Sunset on a fine sunny Saturday at the LA Film Festival. One would probably need to be made of stone to be unmoved by the story of tens of thousands of Ugandan children being kidnapped and forced to commit grizzly atrocities in the service of a rebel movement that began before they were even born. Yet, despite the obvious humanitarian significance of this story, Western media coverage is virtually nonexistent (as seems to be the norm when it comes to the tragedies that occur in so many of the weakened states in post-colonial Africa).

It is precisely because of this unfortunate dearth of media coverage, that I am so grateful to the director, Rick Wilkinson, for making this well-crafted film and to Don Cheadle for throwing the weight of his celebrity status behind such an admirable cause. It is always a pleasure for me to see folks getting behind a good cause, and Don Cheadle went above and beyond conventional donations to ch