Johnny Mad Dog

Johnny Mad Dog is a 2008 French/Liberian film directed by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire, based on the novel Johnny Chien Méchant (2002) by the Congolese author Emmanuel Dongala, and starring Christopher Minie, Daisy Victoria Vandy, Dagbeh Tweh, Barry Chernoh, Mohammed Sesay and Joseph Duo.

It follows a group of LURD child soldiers fighting in 2003, during the end of the second Liberian civil war. The actors are mostly aged 10 to 15, all were unknowns when cast; some were themselves child soldiers. The film follows their march towards the capital Monrovia, and follows them in a gritty realistic manner as they move though a series of towns and villages where they terrify and often execute the populace.

The soldiers are depicted as almost feral, committing acts of pillage and rape, with scant regard for even their own lives. They are heavily armed, and wear a variety of outlandish outfits – butterfly wings and a wedding dress – and have nicknames such as No Good Advice, Captain Dust to Dust and Chicken Hair. Johnny Mad Dog leads the small group of younger militia.

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