Kony 2012 the sequel: Children's charity release hyped follow-up video about Ugandan warlord - but there's no sight of director after naked rant 'meltdown'

• 'Kony 2012: Beyond Famous' addresses criticism aimed at original film
• First YouTube viral received 100m hits and support from celebrities worldwide
• But Jason Russell, who directed first film, is absent from sequel after very public meltdown
  

By Chris Parsons

Published: 04:01 EDT, 6 April 2012 | Updated: 05:18 EDT, 6 April 2012

The children's charity which produced a YouTube viral targeting Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony have released a sequel to their hugely popular video.

Invisible Children's video, 'Kony 2012', directed by filmmaker Jason Russell, racked up 50 million YouTube hits in four days after receiving huge support on Twitter and from A-list celebrities.

Now following on from the group's 20-minute Kony documentary last month which swept the world, Invisible Children have released a follow-up YouTube video.

The follow-up, 'Kony 2012: Beyond Famous', addresses criticism aimed at the original video, but does not feature director Russell, following his naked rant 'meltdown' in San Diego after the video achieved worldwide fame.

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Movement: In the 30-minute Kony sequel, Invisible Children show the work they have done in raising awareness of the Ugandan warlord, as well as addressing criticism of their first video

Russell, 33, has been detained in a mental hospital in San Diego after having an apparent 'meltdown' in the wake of the video's unprecedented popularity.

The director was diagnosed with brief psychosis last month after witnesses saw him pacing naked on a sidewalk in a San Diego neighborhood, screaming incoherently and banging his fists on the pavement. 

His outburst happened shortly after Kony 2012 thrust Invisible Children into the global limelight.

After its release and worldwide popularity last month, Kony 2012 drew criticism for exaggerating and manipulating facts surrounding Kony to over-emphasise the scale of his war crimes

The new 30-minute video by Invisible Children is a slick documentary which addresses criticisms aimed at the San Diego non-profit group since it achieved overnight fame last month.

Warlord: The original video aimed to expose the crimes of African rebel leader Joseph Kony (left). Kony 2012 director Jason Russell (right) does not feature in the sequel

Critics said Kony 2012, the original video of which has now collected over 87 million YouTube hits, was too American-centric.

Pop culture expert Robert Thompson said the original film is likely to become a case study on what videos can become viral web hits.

He said: 'The fact is, the story has developed in so many odd ways with all the controversy, and the sequel can't really promise the bang of that first video - which is informing people of something they did not know before.

Popular: Kony 2012: Beyond Famous was only released on YouTube yesterday, but has already amassed nearly 1 million hits on YouTube

Reflection: Various parts of the Kony 2012 sequel show how Invisible Children's original film raised awareness of the crimes of Joseph Kony

Explosion: Kony 2012: Beyond Famous also illustrates how the first video swept the globe partly due to its popularity on Twitter

Difficult terrain: The African rebel leader is now being hunted a team of international soldiers

Horrific: Kony's guerilla army has abducted thousands of children in central Africa to join it, forcing them to commit horrific acts of violence

Scarred: Kony's LRA has ordered his young army to carry out acts of mutilation on the faces of other youngsters

'Now we're getting into the details, which is never that thrilling.'

Ben Keesey, Invisible Children's CEO, said the sequel was made in two weeks.

The thinking, he said, was the organization needed to answer to people wanting to know who was behind last month's Internet success that prompted a bipartisan group of 40 U.S. senators to back a resolution condemning Kony and had children around the country asking their parents to do something.

Kony's ruthless Lord's Resistance Army, which has no political aim, has led a campaign of fear throughout northern Uganda and neighbouring countries.

The organisation is believed to have murdered tens of thousands of people, abducted at least 30,000 children to work as sex slaves or soldiers and forced more than 1.5 million people to flee their homes.

The brutal campaign has forced millions to live in fear and sees families in some areas abandoning their rural homes at night to sleep in makeshift refugee camps.

Kony and several of his leading lieutenants were indicted in 2005 by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

Breakdown: Jason Russell was hospitalized for exhaustion after behaving bizarrely wearing only his underwear in the streets

Naked meltdown: Kony 2012 video director Jason Russell caught acting strangely on the Streets on San Diego

The group operated for more than a decade in northern Uganda but left in 2008 and have since committed atrocities in Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.

Uganda's army has theoretically hunted the organisation's leaders but Kony has continually evaded capture - at times arrogantly even emerging from the jungle to give interviews to journalists before disappearing again.

Last October American president Barack Obama announced he was sending troops to help the hunt for the LRA.

Around 100 US soldiers have since been deployed in the region to help local officials trace the mass killer.