Echoes of Childhood Lost: ‘Allah is Not Obliged’ Brings Potent Animated Recollection of Liberian Wars

Between 1989 and 2003, more than 50,000 children were enlisted in the Liberian and Sierra Leonean civil wars. Lives were torn apart, a tragedy Ivorian author Ahmadou Kourouma used as material for his award-winning novel “Allah Is Not Obliged,” short for the novel’s leitmotif: “Allah is not obliged to be just in all of his doings down here.”

Zaven Najjar, visual artist, animator and artistic director on Sepideh Farsi’s “The Siren,” was struck by the powerful text, as was Special Touch Studios producer Sébastien Onomo. Together, they embarked on the difficult journey of translating this tale into animation, and now, their feature adaptation is screening at Annecy.

In the film, Birahima, a 10-year-old orphan from Guinea, ironically describes how he is thrown into tribal warfare while trying to reach his aunt in Liberia. Yacouba, a shady man, convinces him to become a child soldier, while he becomes a “grigriman” and witch doctor among the fighters. Shunted between enemy factions, Birahima grows up quickly and learns to distrust the stories he’s told.

A project many years in the making, “Allah Is Not Obliged” returns to Annecy after a captivating work-in-progress session last year. The Belgium-Canada-France-Luxembourg co-production is part of the fest’s main competition and is sure to resonate with the festival audience.

Variety spoke with Najjar during the final mixing sessions of the film, reflecting on the human and artistic journey behind the project.

What compelled you to tell this story?

Being from a family of Armenians from Syria and Lebanon, this story deeply resonated with ones I heard as a teenager, stories of the Lebanese war that were sometimes trivial things tinted with humor and irony, but also deeply tragic recollections intertwined with political and historical dimensions.

That tone is present in Kourouma’s novel, and Sébastien Onomo also felt a strong connection. I already knew him as a producer, having collaborated with Special Touch Studios on “The Siren,” and I knew he dreamed of adapting this book, which he discovered during his literature studies.

This connection, along with the fact that Sébastien, who is of Cameroonian origin, was already working in Africa, gave me an ecosystem in which I could imagine this project coming to life.

How did you translate Kourouma’s work into animation? Can you walk us through your adaptation process?

For me, the only way I could move forward was by speaking with war veterans from Liberia. Sticking solely to the text felt insufficient. I wanted to conduct field research. I’m used to being very precise and thorough.

One thing led to another, and contact after contact, I ended up meeting a former L.U.R.D. general (Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy), one of the major armed forces during the wars. I thought I’d get only five minutes with him, but he gave me much more. He introduced me to other veterans and took me to locations mentioned in the novel. From there, I discovered Monrovia and met village chiefs, miners, witch doctors, people who truly helped me translate the narrative into animation.

From the sketches I made during these trips, I drafted a storyboard. Some real locations are almost literally depicted in the film. Conversations with veterans also helped bring realism to settings such as camps, prisons, and villages, details that infused credibility into the story.

Meeting Sébastien’s professor at La Sorbonne, Tumba Shango Lokoho, helped me approach the text and strike the right balance and tone.

Finding the actor who would voice Birahima was also key to achieving this balance. How did you meet Ivorian rapper SK07?

It was very important to find a young actor to voice Birahima. With so much voice-over, we needed a strong personality and a great voice. SK, without any acting background, proved to be incredible, he literally blew my mind. Recording with him in Abidjan was an unforgettable experience.

The entire cast deserves a shout-out. It was a pleasure working with them; they improvised dialogues and even entire scenes, breathing new life into the film and its narrative.

You mentioned that “Allah Is Not Obliged” was made between five animation studios. How did you build this pipeline, and why?

For budget reasons, but it ended up being a fascinating experience. We succeeded thanks to wonderful teams and the amazing work of production director Nabine Mombo, who coordinated everything. She did an incredible job keeping our pipeline functional across all co-production partners.

I could also count on Belgian animation director Olivier van Hoorebeke, whose expertise helped maintain visual coherence throughout the film. I aimed for a distinctive “stepped animation” style, focusing on key poses while retaining fluidity. It allowed animators to concentrate on impactful visuals, and I’m very happy with the results.

Can you elaborate on the music? It helps turn Birahima’s tale into such a universal and powerful story.

During production, I edited temp music and the dialogues myself. I had many ideas and wishes for the ideal soundtrack and worked with composer Thibault Kientz-Agyeman to refine the musical environments. We especially focused on the lullaby that opens the film.

Thibault later worked heavily on the score, drawing from his own background, while I went to Abidjan to record dialogues. We also recorded songs there that he later incorporated into the film, bringing incredible energy to the project.

Due to our limited budget, we had to make tough choices, but I’m glad we opened the film with music by Alpha Blondy and closed it with an original song by SK07, for which I’m eternally grateful. Blending those talents, moods and tones created something beautiful, offering yet another layer to Birahima’s voice.