I finally got to see this film on DVD last night, and i absolutely enjoyed it very much. It is about three Rwandan children who plan to walk 3000 miles to be able to be at the World Cup in South Africa. I found the scenery throughout the film to be really amazing to watch. I thought the kids acting in the film to be so good. The friends are a talented teenage footballer called Fabrice, Dudu who is a shanty dweller and Dudu's younger sister Beatrice who i thought were fantastic actors. They are making their way to hopefully get to a Pre World Cup trial for Dudu friend Fabrice in Kigali, They end up getting the wrong bus, so they must find a way to get to the World Cup in South Africa. On their way they meet an escaped child terrorist called George and also a waitress called Celeste who is being held captive. They both decide to join the others on the long trip ahead. I really loved the African music which was playing throughout the film which gave the film a great atmosphere. I found it to be a very enjoyable movie with some good laughs along the way: 8/10

We all remember the World Cup last year in South Africa. A colourful , noisy event that promised so much but turned out to be a damp squib. That description pretty much sums up Africa United. This film looks great and promises to be a good road movie but it washed over me. It's a film that has far to many stereotype's and is sugar coated to the extent that strangely i wanted to see some real hardship and suffering or even some humour - Vital ingredients in a road movie. - Not a Chance in Africa United. One plus point is the acting of Eriya Ndayambaje who plays Dudu. he certainly has a future in the business. as for the rest I'm not so sure. Disappointing.

Five youngsters travel across the African continent to reach the opening games of the world cup. Starting in Kigali, Rwanda, talented teenage footballer Fabrice catches the eye of a talent scout who invites him to play at the opening ceremony of the 2010 World Cup. His appointed 'manager' Dudu, played by the hyper Eriya Ndayambaje , hustles him to the nearest bus station and on to the wrong bus. Towing his best friend Beatrice along the three friends decide to walk to the games. If the premise is unbelievable, bear in mind this is a children's / family film and it seems churlish to criticise it too harshly. It throws in a certain amount of realism through entirely location shooting with nice shots of the semi urban landscape of Kigali and a motor park. However this is an Africa which appears slightly too clean for someone whose been there. Where are the piles of plastic rubbish blocking up the open drains? Eriya Ddayanbaje's lead performance of Dudu does begin to grate after a while but works for the target audience. The group of teenagers behind me were giggling away constantly although I felt at times I was watching a safer sex education film, the condom message is so overstated. While well meaning it does continue the idea that everyone in Africa has HIV. This is a serious issue and while HIV affects the lives of many Africans, most people on the continent don't have HIV. Along the journey Dudu and Fabrice meet Foreman George, a former child soldier, a smouldering and moody performance from Yves Dusenge somewhat wasted on this film. No background is furnished, we're simply given this character, taken for granted he's a traumatised kid. No context is given as to how the child soldier phenomenon emerges and its easy for a audience of teenagers to go away from this film imagining that Africa consists of AIDS orphans, child soldiers or teenage sex workers. Without diminishing any of these problems it needs to be remembered the child soldier phenomenon emerged from particular areas of Africa, it isn't and hasn't been continent wide. The conflict in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), largely ignored by the rest of the world, is fuelled by the demand for minerals and the interplay between conflict, child soldiers and global neo liberal capitalism is never alluded to in this film. Maybe thats too much to expect of a children's film but it's frustrating for an audience to bring in the child soldier thing and then not expand it. A similar reluctance takes place to expand the character of Celeste, who when we meet her is a sex worker at a bar on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. This lake borders DRC, again there isn't any context given about the situation here, the complex interplay of colonial histories, exploitation of mineral wealth fuelling conflicts, the ongoing abuses of women such as rape used as a method of control and coercion and so on. Maybe this is too much to ask of a children's film but don't just allude to an issue, give it some proper background. While the film rams home a message that the young people are a team, they all stick together, collaborating for a shared purpose, it ultimately upholds the notion of individualism. Fabrice gets to the World Cup Opening ceremony. His friends conveniently go their own ways. In place of collaborative interdependence, Africa United substitutes neo liberalism, embodied in the spectacle of the world cup, to offer up a facsimile of togetherness. The final shots emphasise Fabrice, close up, walking into the stadium. No mention here of the street traders swept away for the building of the stadium, the homes demolished, the squatters evicted...

I spent the first twenty years of my life in Burundi and sincerely hope the British cinema audience do not believe this saccharine-soaked film represents Africa's proud and brave heart.The director of this film is quick to claim her heritage as 'fourth-generation Rwandan' but genetics alone cannot imbue a heart with African spirit. She still views our culture through British eyes and standards, still feels pity in the perceived unfavourable comparisons. One day a filmmaker will just let us be 'people' - not victims, clowns or the underdogs always searching for more than we have.However, I do agree that the soundtrack was brilliant. Full of authentic energy and life. I am still singing its songs now, but trying to erase the images they accompanied.