Since its world premiere on the festival circuit in February, C. Karim Chrobog's War Child has received numerous awards and critical accolades from Bologna to New York. The film is an inspirational portrait of London based hip-hop artist Emmanuel Jal, a former Sudanese child soldier that has been able to create a new life for himself through music. In 2006, as the featured musical performer at the All Roads Film Festival, Jal moved audiences from L.A. to D.C. Footage captured from his D.C. performance at National Geographic Headquarters actually made it into the final cut of the film, providing a glimpse into the physical presence and lyrical skills of this talented artist.

The film is currently screening in Washington D.C. at Landmark's E. Street Cinema.

Arriving from points across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America and the Middle East, the artists taking part in the 2008 All Roads Film Festival have gathered to share their stories with each other and the world. After a riveting launch event showcasing 2008 Emerging Explorers 4Real (Sol Guy and Josh Thome), a retrospective of the All Roads' first 5 years and the Somali hip-hop grooves of K'NAAN, the films took center stage with Under the Bombs.

For a town that has seen it all as the entertainment capital of the world, Hollywood is still feeling the aftershocks of the 2007 All Roads Film Festival. Now in its 4th year, the festival has set a new standard for delivery of the trilateral palette of the arts in Hollywood. Through amazing films, captivating photography and live, ribald Mediterranean dancehall music, there was fervor and intrigue over the works of the All Roads global indigenous artists. Several of the festival attendees commented that they had never witnessed such an event in their experiences on the Los Angeles scene.

As a result of outreach to a local high school, young students also had the opportunity to share in the appreciation of these powerful and unique stories. The film "Super Amigos" was especially engaging for youth, and they were surprisingly in tune with the social touch points raised in the film. The film was also a hit for Friday night's festival attendees. Indeed "super" can be appropriately applied to the reception the film received on this night. Amid two standing ovations and chants of social pride from the well-attended audience, Super Barrio made a triumphant appearance for an engaging question and answer session that delved into some of the hot button issues afflicting this continent's megalopolises.

The festival has had an equally strong impact on the artists as well; many are visiting the U.S. for the first time. During the question and answer session that followed the screening of "Dol," the film's producer Mehmet Aktas noted that All Roads is the only festival in the U.S. that has been willing and daring enough to screen his films, thus both were U.S. premieres. According to All Roads Photography Program awardee A Yin (China, Inner Mongolia), his peers were apathetic towards his honor because of the perception among them that National Geographic is too business-oriented. After five days with the festival, he said he cannot wait to tell his colleagues how wrong they were. He said he is moved by the opportunity granted by NGS to meet these other artists from around the world while providing a platform for each to express their stories.