98. JOHNNY MAD DOG
 
France/Liberia
dir. Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire
world premiere 2008
U.S. release forthcoming
 

 
Because its coruscating look at West African child soldiers has all the harrowing vividness of City of God without veering into a romantic apotheosis of charismatic villainy. The neglect from U.S. distributors is hard to grasp, but the trenchant filmmaking casts a scary, unforgettable light where one is badly needed.