The Wound Is Where The Light Enters

A Film That Heals

Outreach Producer

Dheeraj Akolkar is an award-winning writer, film director, and producer, and the founder of Vardo Films, London.

His work has received international acclaim. He is also a co-founder of GRACE—The Global Reconciliation, Advocacy and Community-building Engagement—a charity focused on healing and rebuilding war-affected communities around the world.

Directed by Dheeraj, The Wound Is Where The Light Enters (2022) tells the powerful story of 15 children born from sexual violence during the LRA conflict in Uganda. In the film, they come together to create a theatre performance based on their memories—a performance that allows them, for the first time, to speak of their pain and begin healing.

Having known Dheeraj as a filmmaker deeply committed to ‘cinema for social change,’ Sanjay was honoured to join this project as Outreach Producer. His role involved extensive research to identify copyright holders of archival news footage and music used in the film, initiating meaningful conversations with them about the importance of the project, and securing the necessary rights and permissions.

Thanks to the support of individuals and companies around the world, the film was completed with most of the intended material intact. Today, GRACE uses the film as a tool for advocacy and awareness. It has had multiple community screenings in the remote corners of Northern Uganda, as well as academic presentations across Europe.

As rightly mentioned by Dheeraj himself, ‘The Wound is Where the Light Enters’, is ably doing its duty out into the world.

Credits