Lost in Liberia

Germany/Switzerland 2007 / 93min.
Director Luzia Schmid / Producer Herbert Schwering, Christine Kiauk

Lost in Liberia is a sumptuously filmed documentary on the aftermath of war and the realities that best intentions must face up to.

Leila like so many disillusioned young people tired of the corporate rat race and feeling a need to lend a hand in a world besieged by wars, famines and other crises decides to become a voluntary worker overseas. Aware that volunteers are placed in high risk situations, her chosen organization, the Red Cross puts their volunteers through intensive workshops as well as boot camps simulating many of the dangers they may face.

Upon graduating from training, Leila finds herself in Liberia, a country which has witnessed two civil wars since 1989. Hundreds of thousands of people are displaced, families have been torn apart and the West African country’s economy is destroyed. Her mission is simple — to reunite the children forcibly separated from their parents during the last war. Opposing her is a country still reeling from a four year conflict and the dilemma between humanitarian aid and the rigid, inflexible nature of the given power structure.

In a country where children’s rights activists are targets for assassination, Leila’s mission is a struggle against what at times seems like overwhelming odds, where perseverance is as much a virtue as success, and hope is the most precious commodity.

And in her journey, she finds hope to inspire all of us.

Find similar films by topic: Social/Human Interest, War/Conflict, Youth/Children