The Vice Guide To Liberia

From the 19th of January Vice will be releasing its hour long documentary (Eight parts over eight days) on life in Liberia following the 14 years of civil war that have left the country in ruins.

Last year, Vice founder Shane Smith and Editor Andy Capper, visited Liberia's capital, Monrovia to meet three men who participated in the war. One of these men in Joshua Blahyi, more familiarly known as 'General Butt Naked' an ex war lord famed for forcing his soldiers to fight wearing nothing but shoes. Blahyi openly admits to killing more than 20,000 people and drinking the blood of children, but  who now spends his time preaching about his quest for forgiveness. As the team become more familiar with the Monrovians guiding them through the city they begin to visit some of the more dangerous spots in the city: jails, brothels and heroin dens to name a few where they meet the endless victims of a civil war that has devestated their country and left them trying to piece thier lives back together.

Despite the UN's intervention in the country, the majority of Liberia's young people still live in desperate poverty surrounded by filth, drug addiction, and teenage prostitution. Children who were forced into maturity by fighting along side soldiers in the civil war struggle to fend for themselves by any means necessary. As former president Charles Taylor fights accusations of mass war crimes in the Hague, the people strive for positive change against all odds. The documentary follows Americas one and only foray into African colonialism and the uneay peace it is keeping. 






Patrick Gamble

Trailer:



Link: Vice FIlms