The Good Lie turns nightmare into dream for former child soldiers

Art does more than imitate life for Emmanuel Jal and Ger Duany. For the actors—and former child soldiers—art stirs up dark nightmares, and turns them into light that everyone can see.

The creation in question is Philippe Falardeau's The Good Lie. The based-in-real-life film, which had its world premiere last month at the Toronto International Film Festival, tells the story of four Sudanese refugees who find new life in the United States.

• VIDEO | Emmanuel Jal and Ger Duany on The Good Lie

Reese Witherspoon stars as the brash American woman who helps them build a fresh start.

​For Jal, who witnessed his mother's death at the hands of government forces, and could fire a gun before he was 10, telling the story to a broader audience is a dream come true.

"The movie is our story, he told CBC News during a an interview at TIFF. "He [Duany] saw his home burn down. He became a child soldier in the process, I became a child soldier too.

"But the movie is no longer our story now. It's the story of a lot of people who got involved."

Witherspoon shines a light

​Jal credits Witherspoon for bringing much-needed attention to the stories from his country's dark past, but the 38-year-old Hollywood actress credits him for teaching her so much:

"Emmanuel was just amazing," she explained, on the film's red carpet. "He educated us, honestly. And we really changed a lot of the script because of the things that he said."

• RAW VIDEO | Reese Witherspoon on fact-checking The Good Lie

Learn more about Jal and Duany's experiences in the video above, and watch raw video from The Good Lie's red carpet premiere in Toronto.

The Good Lie opens in theatres this weekend.