Kony 2012 Part II: Sequel Released, Seeks to Silence Critics

A month after Kony 2012, the documentary about the crimes of indicted Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, took the Internet by storm, a sequel has arrived.

A sequel that's more of a follow-up to capitalize on the success of the original, which drew more than 100 million views on YouTube, but a sequel just the same.

The non-profit Invisible Children released a new film, Kony 2012: Part II - Beyond Famous, today. You can watch the 20-minute expose in its entirety here:

KONY 2012: Part II - Beyond Famous

Kony 2012 drew attention to the reign of terror by Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army and examined strategies activists take to stop the guerilla leader.

Accused of kidnapping children and turning them into soldiers, among other war crimes, the Ugandan national has become persona non grata ... everywhere.

Missing from the sequel is Jason Russell, the Invisible Children co-founder who directed the first installment and ended up arrested and hospitalized after an unbelievable meltdown earlier this month near his home in San Diego.

As he recovers, Invisible Children seeks to silence critics that the group practices "slacktivism," i.e. oversimplifying issues and having the adverse effect of elevating Kony's celebrity instead of tackling the complexities of the subject.

"One month later, we are releasing this film to explain the creation of the campaign, the progress that's already been made and what we can all do now to put a stop to the violence of the LRA," says narrator Ben Keesey in the new film.

This time around, the film expounds on things that went unmentioned in Kony 2012, like the fact that Kony and his army had abandoned northern Uganda in 2006 and that the conditions in the region have vastly improved.

The African outlaw remains a threat to neighboring countries, however.

They also aim to provide viewers with ways to make a difference, including contacting U.S. policymakers and calling on them to increase funding to help end the conflict in central Africa and capture Joseph Kony himself.

nit championship transcendentalism bells palsy channel 5 news uc berkeley harrison barnes bby