JASON: Right now there
are more people on Facebook

than there were on the planet
200 years ago.

Humanity's greatest desire
is to belong and connect.

And now we see each other.

We hear each other.

-WOMAN: Grandpa, I love you.
-BOY: I love you.

WOMAN: Why --
Why won't it take a picture?

JASON:
We share what we love,

and it reminds us
what we all have in common.

WOMAN: Out alive and well
after 7 1/2 days.

BOY:
If you believe in yourself,

you will know how
to ride a bike!

Rock and roll!

WOMAN: So, now, technically,
your device is on.

-WOMAN: #2: [ Laughs ]
-WOMAN: Can you tell?

Oh, that's exciting.

JASON:
And this connection is changing
the way the world works.

Governments
are trying to keep up.

[ Indistinct chanting ]

And older generations
are concerned.

GIGOT: Many people are
very concerned about tomorrow

because they could get worse
next year.

JASON:
The game has new rules.

The next 27 minutes
are an experiment.

But in order for it to work,
you have to pay attention.

[ Monitor beeping ]

NURSE: Oh, he's cute.
He's really cute.

Wow.

DOCTOR:
Congratulations.

MOM: I can hear him.

[ Baby crying ]

JASON: Every single person
in the world started this way.

He didn't choose where
or when he was born.

But because he's here,
he matters.

Yeah.

My name is Jason Russell,
and this is my son, Gavin.

[ Slides clicking ]

He loves jumping
on the trampoline,

being a ninja, and dancing.

What are you doing?

GAVIN:
Making a snow angel.

-JASON: How do you do that?
-GAVIN: You do this.

♪ Dee-dee-dee, dee-dee-dee,
dee-dee-dee-dee-dee ♪

JASON: And just like his dad,
he likes being in movies...

Action.

GAVIN: Look out!
Look out, people!

Run! It's a bomb!

JASON:
...and making movies.

GAVIN:
Daddy, watch this.

JASON: But he was born into
a pretty complicated world.

And as a dad, I want him to grow
up in a better world than I did.

And because of the course
of events in my life,

I see a way to get there.

It has become my job.

Who are you to end a war?

I'm here to tell you
who are you not to.

Hey, Gavin. What's up?

Years before Gavin was born,

the course of my life was
changed entirely by another boy.

And who's this right here?

GAVIN: Jacob.

JASON: Who's Jacob?

GAVIN:
Jacob is our friend in Africa.

JASON:
It's been almost 10 years since
Jacob and I became friends.

[ Laughter ]

It's okay.

They're nice 'cause
they're different than sharks.

But when my friends and I
first met him

in Uganda in Central Africa,

it was in very different
circumstances.

He was running for his life.

-MAN: You go to school here?
-JACOB: Yes.

MAN: Yes. That's how you know
English so well.

-JACOB: I know.
-MAN: Yeah.

How many nights
have you stayed here?

JASON:
The night I first met Jacob,

he told me what he and other
children in northern Uganda

were living through.

This is absurd.

Hmm.

After spending a few weeks
with Jacob,

he told me something
I would never forget.

He told me more
about his brother

and what he would say to him
if he were still alive.

-Hmm?
-JACOB: [ Sobbing ]

JASON: Everything in my heart
told me to do something.

And so I made him a promise.

JACOB: Yes.

JASON: Hmm?

We're going to stop them.

I made that promise to Jacob
not knowing what it would mean.

But now I do.

Over the past nine years,
I have fought to fulfill it,

and the fight has led me here,
to this movie you're watching,

because that promise
is not just about Jacob or me.

It's also about you.

And this year, 2012, is the year
that we can finally fulfill it.

And if we succeed, we change
the course of human history.

But time is running out.

To level with you, this movie
expires on December 31, 2012,

and its only purpose is to stop
the rebel group the LRA

and their leader, Joseph Kony.

And I'm about to tell you

exactly how
we're going to do it.

[ Up-tempo music plays ]

So, the thing is,
my son, Gavin, has never --

I've never really explained
to him what I do.

He knows I work in Africa,

but he doesn't know what the war
is about or who Joseph Kony is,

so I'm gonna explain it to him
for the first time today.

That's what we're doing.

-So, Gav.
-GAVIN: Yeah.

-JASON: Are you ready?
-GAVIN: Yeah.

JASON: I'm gonna ask you
some questions.

And you can just look at me
and answer the questions to me.

GAVIN:
I'm kind of nervous.

JASON:
What do I do for a job?

GAVIN: You stop the bad guys
from being mean.

JASON:
Who are the bad guys?

GAVIN: Um...

JASON: Do you know
where they --

GAVIN:
"Star Wars" people.

-JASON: "Star Wars" people?
-GAVIN: Yeah.

-JASON: Those are the bad guys?
-GAVIN: Yeah.

JASON: Can I tell you
the bad guy's name?

GAVIN: Yeah.

JASON: This is the --
This is the guy, Joseph Kony.

GAVIN:
He's the bad guy?

JASON: Yeah.

-Who's this?
-GAVIN:Jacob.

JASON: Joseph Kony --
He has an army, okay?

And what he does

is he takes children
from their parents

and he gives them a gun to shoot

and he makes them shoot
and kill other people.

GAVIN: But they're not
gonna do what he says

because they're nice guys,
right?

JASON: Yeah, they don't
want to do what he says,

but he forces them
to do bad things.

What do you think
about that?

-GAVIN: It's sad.
-JASON: Mm.

I couldn't explain to Gavin

the details of what Joseph Kony
really does.

Because the truth is,

Kony abducts kids
just like Gavin.

For 26 years, Kony
has been kidnapping children

into his rebel group, the LRA...

...turning the girls
into sex slaves...

...and the boys
into child soldiers.

He makes them mutilate
people's faces.

And he forces them
to kill their own parents.

And this is not
just a few children.

It's been over 30,000 of them.

And Jacob
was one of those children.

As if Kony's crimes
aren't bad enough,

he is not fighting
for any cause,

but only to maintain his power.

He is not supported by anyone,

and he has repeatedly
used peace talks

to rearm and murder
again and again.

This is the head prosecutor

for the International
Criminal Court.

In 2002,
when the court was started,

their job was to find
and demand the arrest

of the world's worst criminals.

Although there are
a lot of warlords,

murderers, and dictators
in the world,

the perversity of Kony's crimes

made him first
on the court's list.

What do you think
we should do about him?

GAVIN:
We should stop him.

JASON:
We should stop who?

GAVIN: Him.

JASON: It's obvious
that Kony should be stopped.

The problem is, 99% of the
planet doesn't know who he is.

If they knew, Kony would have
been stopped long ago.

When my friends and I
came home from Uganda,

we thought that
if the government knew,

they would do something
to stop him.

But everyone in Washington
we talked to

said there is no way
the United States

will ever get involved

in a conflict
where our national security

or financial interests
aren't at stake.

PRENDERGAST:
No administration --
Republican, Democrat,

Obama, Bush, Clinton,
doesn't matter --

would do enough

because it's simply not
an important-enough issue

on the radar screen
of American foreign policy.

JASON: Since the government
said it was impossible,

we didn't know what else to do
but tell everyone we could

about Jacob
and the invisible children.

Show this movie
to as many people as possible

in such a way
that we can't be ignored.

And when we did,
people were shocked,

and their awareness
turned into action.

We started something --
a community.

WOMAN: I have friends that have
been living in this conflict

their entire life.

Fight for that because that is
what is gonna change this world,

and that is what defines us.

JASON: We got creative,
and we got loud.

ALL: It's not over!
It's not over! It's not over!

JASON: And as the LRA began
to move into other countries,

Jacob and other Ugandans
came to the U.S.

to speak on behalf of all people
suffering because of Kony.

Even though Uganda
was relatively safe,

they felt compelled
to tell the world

that Kony was still out there
and had to be stopped.

We built a community
around the idea

that where you live shouldn't
determine whether you live.

We were committed to stop Kony

and rebuild
what he had destroyed.

And because we couldn't wait
for institutions

or governments to step in,
we did it ourselves

with our time, talent,
and money.

So we rebuilt schools.

We created jobs.

And we built
an early warning radio network

on the front line of the war

to protect villages
from rebel attacks.

MAN: To update real time
what's happening on a war zone

8,000 miles away.

JASON: All of this was funded
by an army of young people

who put their money
toward their belief

in the value of all human life.

They gave a few dollars a month
of what little they had

to a program called TRI

and proved
that a bunch of littles

could make a big difference.

And as a result,
the unseen became visible.

♪ Stars hide your fires ♪

♪ These here are my desires ♪

♪ And I won't give them up
to you this time around ♪

♪ And so ♪

♪ But you... ♪

♪ ...rightfully mine ♪

JASON: So, with hundreds of
thousands of people with us,

we went back
to Washington, D.C.,

and we met with congressmen
and senators one by one

on both sides --
Republicans, Democrats --

and they all agreed with us.

Joseph Kony's crimes
had to be stopped.

INHOFE: With all the problems
that are out there,

none is more severe
than one that -- that mutilates

and takes the lives
of little kids.

DAVIS:
These young members of the
Invisible Children Organization

know that no child
should live in fear

of being abducted or killed.

McGOVERN:
So they were determined
to become their voice.

They realized that these
African children and families

were invisible
to Washington policymakers.

So they decided
to make them visible.

JASON: And what I was told
would never happen

suddenly became possible.

"In furtherance
of the Congress's stated policy,

"I have authorized
a small number of U.S. forces

"to deploy to Central Africa

"to provide assistance
to regional forces

"that are working toward
the removal

"of Joseph Kony
from the battlefield.

Sincerely, Barack Obama."

[ Cheers and applause ]

RICE: Through advice
and assistance --

not putting Americans
into combat --

to help the countries
of the region

end this threat
once and for all.

And that was
a worthwhile investment.

[ Cheers and applause ]

[ Ululating ]

JASON:
After eight years of work,

the government finally heard us.

And in October of 2011,
a hundred American advisers

were sent into Central Africa
to assist the Ugandan army

in arresting Kony
and stopping the LRA.

It was the first time in history

that the United States
took that kind of action

because the people demanded it.

Not for self-defense,
but because it was right.

We've come so far.

But Kony is still out there.

He's recently changed
his tactics,

making it even more difficult
to capture him.

And international support
could be removed at any time.

It's hard to look back
on some parts of human history.

Because when we heard
about injustice,

we cared,
but we didn't know what to do.

Too often we did nothing.

But if we're going
to change that,

we have to start somewhere,

so we're starting here
with Joseph Kony

because now we know what to do.

Here it is. Ready?

In order for Kony
to be arrested this year,

the Ugandan military
has to find him.

In order to find him,

they need
the technology and training

to track him in the vast jungle.

That's where
the American advisers come in.

But in order for the American
advisers to be there,

the U.S. government
has to deploy them.

They've done that, but if
the government doesn't believe

that people care
about arresting Kony,

the mission will be canceled.

In order for the people to care,
they have to know.

And they will only know
if Kony's name is everywhere.

This is the dream.

Kony arrested
for all the world to see,

and the abducted children
returned home.

-Here's the biggest problem.
-GAVIN: Yeah.

JASON: Do you want to know
what it is?

-GAVIN: Yeah.
-JASON: Nobody knows who he is.

GAVIN: Nobody knows, but --
but I know who he is

because I see him
on this picture right now.

JASON: He's not famous.

He's invisible.
Joseph Kony's invisible.

Here is how we're
going to make him visible.

We are going to make Joseph Kony
a household name

not to celebrate him, but to
bring his crimes to the light.

And we are starting this year,
2012.

We are targeting
20 culture makers

and 12 policymakers
to use their power for good.

Let's start
with the 20 culture makers.

Celebrities, athletes, and
billionaires have a loud voice,

and what they talk about
spreads instantly.

If our goal
is to get Kony's name known,

the known should join us.

We are targeting
20 of the most diverse

and influential culture makers
to speak out about Kony

and make him famous.

-MAN: Oprah.
-WOMAN: Mark Zuckerberg.

-MAN #2: Ryan Seacrest.
-WOMAN #2: Bono.

JASON: Then we're going
after policymakers --

the ones that have the authority
to see Kony captured.

They decide
if the advisers stay or leave.

So we need to remind them
that in this election year

of fighting and name-calling,
no matter what side you're on,

this is something
we can all agree on.

FEINGOLD:
If a senator or congressman
notices 25 phone calls

on any issue on any given day,
it is noted.

PRENDERGAST: When citizens
by the hundreds of thousands

start demanding that
our government do something,

suddenly it becomes
in the national interest

of the United States government
to respond to this problem.

JASON: We've identified
the 12 policymakers

that could change the game
regarding Kony,

so we're targeting them.

On our Website, we've made
it easy to write them directly,

call them, meet with them,
and get their attention.

If my son were kidnapped
and forced to kill,

it would be all over the news.

So we are making Kony world news

by redefining the propaganda
we see all day, every day

that dictates who
and what we pay attention to.

FAIREY:
A lot of people feel powerless
to communicate their ideas.

They think that, "Okay,
you know, I'm not a corporation.

"I don't own my own magazine
or news station.

I just don't have any say."

But seeing what I've done,

I think it's empowered
a lot of people to realize

that one individual
can make an impact.

And I actually
want to demystify and say,

"Here are these
really simple tools.

Go out and rock it."

JASON: And that's just
what we intend to do.

♪ I can't stop ♪

JASON: Our goal is to change
the conversation of our culture

and get people to ask,
"Who is Joseph Kony?"

We have printed hundreds
of thousands of posters,

stickers, yard signs, and fliers
that are right now, today,

being put up in major cities
all over the world.

We have thousands
of "Kony 2012" bracelets

that we want everyone to wear
this year only.

Each bracelet
has a unique I.D. number.

Input that number and you enter
the mission to make Kony famous.

You can geotag your posters

and track your impact
in real time.

Everything you need is in a box
called the Action Kit.

It has two bracelets -- one
for you and one to give away.

And if you want to help fund
our lifesaving programs,

donate a few dollars
a month through TRI

and you can have the Action Kit
for free.

Start making Kony famous today,

but all of these efforts
will culminate on one day --

April 20th --
when we cover the night.

This is the day
when we will meet at sundown

and blanket every street

in every city
till the sun comes up.

We will be smart,
and we will be thorough.

The rest of the world
will go to bed Friday night

and wake up to hundreds
of thousands of posters

demanding justice
on every corner.

♪ I can't stop ♪

♪ I can't stop ♪

♪ I can't stop ♪

JASON: It's always been that
the decisions made by the few

with the money and the power

dictated the priorities
of their government

and the stories in the media.

They determine the lives and the
opportunities of their citizens.

But now there is something
bigger than that.

The people of the world
see each other

and can protect each other.

It's turning the system
upside down,

and it changes everything.

We have reached
a crucial time in history

where what we do
or don't do right now

will affect every generation
to come.

Arresting Joseph Kony will prove

that the world we live in
has new rules,

that the technology that has
brought our planet together

is allowing us to respond
to the problems of our friends.

We are not just studying
human history.

We are shaping it.

At the end of my life,

I want to say that the world
we've left behind

is one that Gavin
can be proud of,

a place that doesn't allow
Joseph Konys and child soldiers,

a place where children,
no matter where they live,

have a childhood free from fear.

GAVIN:
I'm gonna be like you, Dad.

JASON: When you grow up?

-GAVIN: Yeah.
-JASON: Are you sure?

GAVIN: I'm gonna come with you
to Africa.

JASON: The better world we want
is coming.

It's just waiting for us
to stop at nothing.

-- Captions by VITAC --
www.vitac.com