Emmanuel Jal
- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
In the war-torn region of Southern Sudan, Emmanuel Jal was born into
the life of a child solider on an unknown date in the early 1980s.
Through unbelievable struggles, Emmanuel managed to survive and emerge
as a recording artist, achieving worldwide acclaim for his unique style
of hip hop with its message of peace and reconciliation born out of his
personal experiences. Emmanuel has released four studio albums: Gua,
Ceasefire, Warchild and See Me Mama.
Emmanuel's live appearances have included Live 8 , Nelson Mandela's
90th Birthday Concert and the One Concert for his Holiness the Dalai
Lama. He has performed with acts such as Faithless, Razorlight,
Supergrass and Fat Boy Slim in Europe and has toured the United States
as part of the National Geographic All Roads Film Festival, in which he
performed in New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles and New Orleans. Jal
also performed with Moby and Five for Fighting in the 2007 live concert
film, with Alicia Keys at her Black Ball in New York and more recently
with Joss Stone at the Melbourne Festival closing Concert, 2011 and
Peter Gabriel at the 20th anniversary celebrations for WITNESS, 2012.
Emmanuel is in demand as a speaker and has addressed the UN, US
Congress, the Carter Centre and the highest tiers of several
governments. He has been involved with the British Council, Clinton
Global Initiative, Adolescent Girls Initiative (World Bank in
association with the Nike Foundation), Child Soldiers Initiative and
the launch of Ericsson's Refugees Reunited Software. He was one of the
faces of Amnesty International's 2010 World Refugee Day Campaign and
appeared at Alicia Keys' Keep a Child Alive Black Ball 2010 in London.
In 2008 a full-length documentary on his life was released. The film,
Warchild, won 12 prestigious film festival awards worldwide. In the
same year, his autobiography, also called Warchild, was published by
Little Brown.
Emmanuel Jal appears as the adult lead in the major motion picture
Africa United, a Pathé, UK Film Council and BBC Films presentation in
association with Warner Bros, released in October 2010. In 2013
Emmanuel was cast as one of lead characters in 'The Good Lie' alongside
Reese Witherspoon. The film follows the journey of three 'Lost Boys'
from South Sudan to the US, due for worldwide release through Warner
Bros in February 2014.
Emmanuel's music has been used in films, documentary and TV including:
Blood Diamond, Girl Rising, ER and National Geographic.
the life of a child solider on an unknown date in the early 1980s.
Through unbelievable struggles, Emmanuel managed to survive and emerge
as a recording artist, achieving worldwide acclaim for his unique style
of hip hop with its message of peace and reconciliation born out of his
personal experiences. Emmanuel has released four studio albums: Gua,
Ceasefire, Warchild and See Me Mama.
Emmanuel's live appearances have included Live 8 , Nelson Mandela's
90th Birthday Concert and the One Concert for his Holiness the Dalai
Lama. He has performed with acts such as Faithless, Razorlight,
Supergrass and Fat Boy Slim in Europe and has toured the United States
as part of the National Geographic All Roads Film Festival, in which he
performed in New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles and New Orleans. Jal
also performed with Moby and Five for Fighting in the 2007 live concert
film, with Alicia Keys at her Black Ball in New York and more recently
with Joss Stone at the Melbourne Festival closing Concert, 2011 and
Peter Gabriel at the 20th anniversary celebrations for WITNESS, 2012.
Emmanuel is in demand as a speaker and has addressed the UN, US
Congress, the Carter Centre and the highest tiers of several
governments. He has been involved with the British Council, Clinton
Global Initiative, Adolescent Girls Initiative (World Bank in
association with the Nike Foundation), Child Soldiers Initiative and
the launch of Ericsson's Refugees Reunited Software. He was one of the
faces of Amnesty International's 2010 World Refugee Day Campaign and
appeared at Alicia Keys' Keep a Child Alive Black Ball 2010 in London.
In 2008 a full-length documentary on his life was released. The film,
Warchild, won 12 prestigious film festival awards worldwide. In the
same year, his autobiography, also called Warchild, was published by
Little Brown.
Emmanuel Jal appears as the adult lead in the major motion picture
Africa United, a Pathé, UK Film Council and BBC Films presentation in
association with Warner Bros, released in October 2010. In 2013
Emmanuel was cast as one of lead characters in 'The Good Lie' alongside
Reese Witherspoon. The film follows the journey of three 'Lost Boys'
from South Sudan to the US, due for worldwide release through Warner
Bros in February 2014.
Emmanuel's music has been used in films, documentary and TV including:
Blood Diamond, Girl Rising, ER and National Geographic.