"Children of Warfare," a Hallmark series abandoned after 911, explored children's plights in various wars around the wold from the genocide in Rawanda to the rape warfare in Bosnia. Writer and former Syracuse University Professor, Beverly Allen, wrote a screen play for the series after receiving testimonies from Muslim women who had endured rape warfare after the Christians had taken over Bosnia and other surrounding lands.
Allen first wrote a book with the information she'd received, which helped influence the UN, and later converted the project into a screen play in hopes of bringing more attention to the issue of rape warfare.
The film, which featured native Bosnian actors, was so gripping that its emotional pull distracted viewers from the antiquated footage as the film was created prior to 2002. It starts off with a young girl and boy running through a war zone, risking their lives, just to get a couple of gallons of clean water for their families. One is Christian and one is Muslim so although they love each other they could never be together and the war continues to destory their dreams of the future. After her family is murdered, the young girl has a bleak outlook on life and relies on the encouragement of the other prisoners. Ultimately, the boy she once loved becomes her prison guard and she the innocent inmate but he still loves her. He dies in an attempt to protect her from the other guards and she is left to fend for herself.
Like many other young, pretty, fertile girls, she was able to survive but lives with the horror of her past and the death of her family everyday. This young girl's experience was a mixture of several muslim women's testimonies and tells the story they cannot.
Allen's film bridges the gap between activism and creativity transforming society through art.
