Kony 2012 is a 2012 American short documentary film produced by Invisible Children, Inc. The film's purpose was to make Ugandan cult leader, war criminal, and ICC fugitive Joseph Kony globally known so as to have him arrested by the end of 2012. The film was released on March 5, 2012, and spread virally, and the campaign was initially supported by various celebrities.
, the film had received over 103 million views and 1.3 million likes on the video-sharing website YouTube, and over 18.7 million views and over 21.8 thousand likes on Vimeo, with other views on a central Kony 2012 website operated by Invisible Children. At the time, the video was the most liked on the whole of YouTube, and is the first video ever to reach 1 million likes. The intense exposure of the video caused the Kony 2012 website to crash shortly after it began gaining widespread popularity. A poll suggested that more than half of young adult Americans heard about Kony 2012 in the days following the video's release. It was included among the top international events of 2012 by PBS and called the most viral video ever by Time magazine in 2013.
The campaign resulted in a resolution by the United States Senate and contributed to the African Union's decision to send troops to catch Kony. The film also called for an April 20 worldwide canvassing campaign, called "Cover the Night". On April 5, 2012, Invisible Children released a follow-up video, titled Kony 2012: Part II – Beyond Famous, which failed to repeat the success of the original.
Synopsis The film documents the Invisible Children's plans and efforts to capture Joseph Kony. It describes Kony's actions with his rebel militia group Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), including forced recruitment of child soldiers, and the regions (northern Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and South Sudan) in which they have been active.
It is introduced with the song "02 Ghosts I" by Nine Inch Nails, and the text "Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come. Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time is now." Then, a view of the sun shining at the earth is shown, and director Jason Russell speaks the phrase '"Right now, there are more people on Facebook than there were on the planet 200 years ago. Humanity's greatest desire is to belong and connect, and now, we see each other. We hear each other. We share what we love. And this connection is changing the way the world works." The first scene after the introduction shows the birth of Jason Russell's son Gavin. The film contains rich sound design and 3D animations of pictures mapped over an earth globe, as well as of a crowd of people from bird's-eye view.
One of the main people featured in the film is a young Ugandan named Jacob Avaye, whose brother was killed by the LRA. In response, the director and founder of Invisible Children, Jason Russell, promises Jacob that he will help "stop Kony".
The film advocates the restoration of social order and curtailing compelled and coerced youth military service. The video also has clips of Jason Russell's young son reacting to the information about Kony. Near the end of the film, a 2011 announcement from U.S. President Barack Obama is shown authorizing the deployment of 100 Special Forces military advisers to provide "information, advice, and assistance to partner nation forces" of Central African countries to "remove Joseph Kony from the battlefield". The video concludes by urging viewers to join its publicity campaign by putting up posters and helping out in their communities.
In a later scene in the film, an action scene shows people sticking Kony 2012 posters in various places in a town, with the music "I Can't Stop" by Flux Pavilion playing in the background.
In the last minute of the film, the countdown that was first shown near the beginning, when the narrator said "the next 27 minutes are an experiment", finishes and textual calls to action are presented.
Invisible Children The Invisible Children charity has focused on obtaining the support of a select group of individuals in order to "help bring awareness to the abuse and killing of children in the East and Central African countries at the hands of Kony and his leadership." This list included 20 "celebrity culture makers", such as George Clooney, Angelina Jolie, Oprah Winfrey (who significantly helped to spread the video), Taylor Swift, and Ryan Seacrest. The list also featured 12 "policy makers" that have "the power to keep U.S. government officials in Africa" in order to work toward the capture of Kony. This list includes former US President George W. Bush and his Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and former US Secretary of State John Kerry.
A number of celebrities endorsed the awareness campaign against Kony, including Justin Bieber, Bill Gates, Christina Milian, Nicki Minaj, Kim Kardashian, Pete Wentz, Rihanna, and Elliot Page.
Cover the Night
As part of the campaign, US supporters were asked to put up posters in their hometowns in an action named "Cover the Night", which took place on April 20, 2012. Invisible Children offered posters and T-shirts in an attempt to gain wider recognition. They also created action kits to help spread awareness that included campaign buttons, posters, bracelets, and stickers. The announcement video to "Cover the night" was aired on April 4, 2012.Cover the night
The "Cover the Night" event took place worldwide on April 20, 2012, and was to be conducted by supporters who were encouraged to perform some sort of charity work that morning in their local community. Then, that evening, they were to post flyers and posters throughout their city for the Kony 2012 campaign. The turnout for the event worldwide was much smaller than initially expected, with no organized spots officially announced and many fewer people attending than had pledged to attend. A tweet from Invisible Children stated, "There is no official meet-up as we are asking people to act locally with friends+family in their neighborhoods." Despite over 50,000 people signing up and buying kits, very few people actually participated. One gathering in Vancouver had only 17 people; another in Brisbane had fewer than 50 attendees. In Kelowna, British Columbia, several signs and posters were put up, including two large banners that were "placed on both sides of the pedestrian overpass". In Canberra, several Facebook groups resulted in a few gatherings of two or three people each. In Phoenix, 200 posters were put up by "college students and other people in their teens and 20s", along with a number of chalk and stencil messages.
Reception
The film sparked a heated controversy regarding its merits, with very differing opinions being expressed by various NGO workers, government and international officials, journalists, and other groups and individuals.
Positive Luis Moreno Ocampo, who was featured in the film and was, at the time, the chief Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC), voiced his support of the film and the campaign that had "mobilised the world", and said that the criticism was "stupid".Joseph Kony 2012: International Criminal Court chief prosecutor supports campaign , The Telegraph, March 12, 2012 The Special Representative and head of the newly created United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA), Abou Moussa, said that international interest in Kony was "useful, very important". The White House released a statement of support through Press Secretary Jay Carney, who stated in a news conference, "We congratulate the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have mobilized to this unique crisis of conscience" and said that the raised awareness from the video is "consistent with the bipartisan legislation passed by our congress in 2010." Cameron Hudson, policy director at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and former Africa director in the National Security Council, also praised Invisible Children for reaching "tens of millions of people who probably never previously heard of Joseph Kony." Anthony Lake, the executive director of UNICEF, was cited as saying that a similar viral video would have made a difference during the Rwandan genocide in 1994, also suggesting that "this kind of public attention would also have helped save more lives in Darfur and in Congo's warring east."
Human Rights Watch (HRW)'s Africa division senior researcher Anneke Van Woudenberg wrote in a statement: "We've spent years investigating the horrors perpetrated by the LRA in central Africa—Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic (CAR), and South Sudan. We gathered evidence at massacre sites—wooden clubs covered in dried blood, rubber strips from bicycle tires used to tie up the victims, and freshly dug graves—and spoke to hundreds of boys and girls forced to fight for his army or held captive as sex slaves. And we're elated that #stopKony is a trending topic on Twitter—if anyone deserves global notoriety it's Kony." She added: "Arresting Kony and other senior LRA leaders would reaffirm that those who commit mass atrocities will face justice. It will also help end the scourge of one of the most brutal rebel groups in Africa." HRW's LRA researcher Ida Sawyer reaffirmed, "we definitely support the message of the film and we think it's great that they're bringing so much attention to the film with Kony's crimes and the phenomena of the LRA." Amnesty International, which had documented what it described as the LRA's "horrific impact on the lives of thousands of civilians in Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Uganda" and for years had been calling for the LRA leaders to be arrested, welcomed the massive public response to the Kony 2012 campaign. Erwin van der Borght, the organization's Africa director, wrote in a statement: "Joseph Kony and other LRA leaders have evaded arrest for far too long and this campaign is a salient reminder of the continuing crimes by LRA members and the need to arrest and surrender their leaders to the ICC so they can face trial," but added: "Anyone joining the Kony 2012 campaign should insist that efforts to arrest Joseph Kony must respect human rights", especially because "many of LRA members were themselves victims of human rights violations including forcible recruitment", and ensure the protection of civilians.
Opinions on the film were mixed in Gulu, one of the former centers of rebel activities in northern Uganda, during a showing of the film, with several of the leaders expressing support and criticism. One of the attendees, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Henry Oryem Okello, said that the criticisms directed at the film and Invisible Children were "unfounded", going on to state, "Invisible Children has done visible things in Acholi[land], for example offering scholarships to thousands of children and anyone against them is our enemy." Betty Bigombe, a Ugandan cabinet minister and former peace negotiator, said, "I do not know whether it makes any difference as far as taking [Kony] out is concerned. However, what is important is bringing this to the attention of policymakers. I hope that something innovative will come out of it." Norbert Mao, Ugandan politician and president of the opposition Democratic Party, stated his support for the film, explaining that while it does have some problems, such as implying Ugandans did not try to fight back against the LRA and not explaining how many of the issues in the film were also exacerbated by the Ugandan government itself, the film is still a "positive development" for the issue, adding that while Invisible Children may not be "the foremost analysts of the complicated political, historical and security dynamics" in the situation, "they have the most beautiful trait on earth – compassion."