The Silent Army

Dutch chef Eduard Zuiderwijk runs the only good restaurant in a Central African state (Uganda?) in the grip of military dictatorship and civil war. Since the death of his wife, he rather neglected their beloved pre-teen son Thomas, who thus bonded unusually closely with a staff family, especially their son Abu, his age, but not in school. When the rebel general Michel Obeke's troops snap up Abu as child soldier recruit, to be brainwashed, Thomas tirelessly pushes dad to get his buddy back. They embark on a perilous quest, cynically aided by Flemish reporter Francois Lama and a refugee camp aid worker.