7th ANNUAL TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL

2008 CADILLAC AWARD WINNER,

“WAR CHILD”

The 7th annual Tribeca Film Festival, co-founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff, and presented by American Express, announced the winner of The Cadillac Award – War Child – which was voted on by the audience.

The voting process for The Cadillac Award had been taking place throughout the duration of the festival, as audiences were encouraged to fill out nomination ballots upon exiting screenings of Festival films.  Final results were tabulated and announced during the WNBC-TV program “Tribeca Presents:  Best of the Festival” on Saturday, May 3.  C. Karim Chrobog, director of War Child, will receive a cash prize of $25,000, the art award “Peripheral Drift Illusion” created by Ryan McGinness and a one-of-a-kind trophy to commemorate his achievement.

War Child is a documentary film directed by C. Karim Chrobog and produced by Chrobog and Afshin Molavi. The film tells the story of hip-hop artist Emmanuel Jal, a veteran of the 20-year civil war in southern Sudan. First-time filmmaker Chrobog follows Jal as he performs at a fundraiser and meets with students in Washington, DC then returns to Sudan for the first time in 18 years to reunite with his family, including the father who summoned him to war and then abandoned him. Now in his 20s, Jal is using his music to raise awareness about the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Sudan and the plight of child soldiers throughout the world.

"The entire War Child team is immensely grateful to the Tribeca Film Festival for giving us this extraordinary opportunity to show our film to the best audience in the world, New Yorkers. We have been on a long and arduous journey in making this film and moments like this make it all worthwhile," said director C. Karim Chrobog. "We hope receiving the Cadillac Award will spur more people to see the movie and listen to Emmanuel Jal's extraordinary music and journey and get involved in our dream of building a school in Emmanuel's home in South Sudan."

"Our audiences fell in love with Emmanuel Jal through Karim's film," said Jane Rosenthal. "I hope this movie not only serves to entertain people but is a call to action to help the millions of children in Africa in need of food, education, and love."

“I was happy that I was able to come to the Tribeca Film Festival and share my story and inspire audiences,” said Emmanuel Jal. “This is one step closer to my dream of building my school in South Sudan. Never give up, never give in.”