Kony 2012
Kony 2012 is a 2012 American short documentary film produced by Invisible Children, Inc. The film's purpose was to make Ugandan cult leader, war criminal, and ICC fugitive Joseph Kony globally known so as to have him arrested by the end of 2012. The film was released on March 5, 2012, and spread virally, and the campaign was initially supported by various celebrities.
| KONY 2012 | |
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Promotional poster for the video, featuring stylized forms of the donkey symbolizing the Democratic Party and the elephant symbolizing the Republican Party, overlapping to form a white dove of peace. | |
| Directed by | Jason Russell |
| Written by | Jason Russell Jedidiah Jenkins Kathryn Lang Danica Russell Ben Keesey Azy Groth |
| Produced by | Kimmy Vandivort Heather Longerbeam Chad Clendinen Noelle Jouglet |
| Cinematography | Jason Russell Bobby Bailey Laren Poole Gavin Kelly Chad Clendinen Kevin Trout Jay Salbert Michael Spear Shannon Lynch |
| Edited by | Kathryn Lang Kevin Trout Jay Salbert Jesse Eslinger Michael Spear |
| Distributed by | Invisible Children, Inc. |
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Running time | 30 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
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As of September 2023, the film had received over 103 million views and 1.3 million likes on the video-sharing website YouTube, and over 18.7 million views and over 21.8 thousand likes on Vimeo, with other views on a central Kony 2012 website operated by Invisible Children. At the time, the video was the most liked on the whole of YouTube, and is the first video ever to reach 1 million likes. The intense exposure of the video caused the Kony 2012 website to crash shortly after it began gaining widespread popularity. A poll suggested that more than half of young adult Americans heard about Kony 2012 in the days following the video's release. It was included among the top international events of 2012 by PBS and called the most viral video ever by TIME in 2013.
The campaign resulted in a resolution by the United States Senate and contributed to the decision to send troops by the African Union. The film also called for an April 20 worldwide canvassing campaign, called "Cover the Night". On April 5, 2012, Invisible Children released a follow-up video, titled Kony 2012: Part II – Beyond Famous, which failed to repeat the success of the original.