Johnny Mad Dog is a riveting and brutal examination of child soldiers in Africa which ranks amongst the best war films in recent memory.

Although nominally set in an unnamed African country, it was shot in Liberia – still recovering from a long civil war – and makes use of former child soldiers and documentary-style techniques to create a hellish recreation of a contemporary issue.

Based on the 2002 novel Johnny Chien Méchant by the US-based Congolese author Emmanuel Dongala, it brings to life the sickening reality of a difficult and disturbing issue.

I recently spoke with director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire about the film and we discussed how he came across the material, the challenges of shooting with real life child soldiers and the reception of the film around the world.