photos | Andy Richter
Dave Weiberg carried a Rocket Propelled Grenade launcher (RPG) into an elevator at Minneapolis’ Riverside Plaza. A young man who stood beside him asked, “Is that real?” Dave quickly said no and explained that the gun was a prop for the film Ana’s Playground. The young man smiled and said, “Well it looks great, it looks just like the one I used to shoot when I was a boy.” He told Dave that he had been a child solider in the conflict in Somalia.The cast and crew of Ana’s Playground were amazed by this coincidence. They were creating a film about children in armed conflict in a neighborhood that had experienced it first-hand.
The idea to make a short film about children in conflict came to Eric Howell after he read a novel about snipers in Sarajevo. Knowing that there was already a lot of information available about the topic, Eric wanted to make something different. He created a film set in an indefinite location, without language or a specific culture.
