The roster of earnest, well-intentioned docs at this year's Tribeca festival numbered nearly two dozen, and standing apart from the pack was difficult, especially for films about troubles in such distant hotspots as Africa.

But in this year's quartet of African docs, two emerged with messages of triumph. And one in particular, Gini Reticker and Abigail Disney's "Pray the Devil Back to Hell" was greeted with standing ovations at every showing, spurring the addition of two more screenings.

At the soldout April 30 screening, sitting several rows from a phalanx of security guards, was Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who was in Gotham for business at the United Nations, had heard the buzz about "Pray" and wanted to see how the story of her countrywomen's fight for peace was told.

"This is a truly remarkable film," Sirleaf said when the lights came up. "Without question it's accurate. There may be some fears of showing this film in Liberia today, but this is a story that needs to be told."

It's not the only true story out of Africa at this year's fest or the only uplifting one: "War Child" is a story of triumph over adversity about a Sudanese rap star. There's also "Kassim the Dream," a bittersweet look at a former Ugandan child soldier's return after becoming a boxer in America, and Madonna's Malawi adoption doc "I Am Because We Are," which details the harsh realities children face.

But it's "Pray" that has generated the most emotional response among festgoers.

Pic focuses on the events beginning in April 2003, when Christian and Muslim women created a coalition for peace that would alter the destiny of civil war-torn Liberia. These ordinary women took extraordinary steps: They met with bishops and imams, protested publicly, withheld sex until men stopped fighting, and formed a human chain around a building until a peace agreement was signed.

They demonstrated until President Charles Taylor was exiled for war crimes and Sirleaf -- Africa's first female head of state -- was elected in 2006.

"I went to Liberia, I kept hearing fragments of the story about these women, but if it wasn't in the New York Times, it must not have happened," says Disney, the grandniece of Walt Disney. "I wanted to keep the story alive."

She took it upon herself to interview those who were there, and as she did she uncovered a modern-day "Lysistrata." She partnered with director Reticker ("The Heart of the Matter") and provided full funding via her Fork Films.

"It was a great asset," Reticker says. "We could just work. Abby was completely committed."

On her way out of the April 30 screening, Sirleaf was asked which country most needed to see "Pray."

"Zimbabwe," answered Sirleaf, surrounded by burly men in suits and earpieces. "Maybe we can inspire them to avoid the kind of chaos we had. Our own problem started with fraudulent elections in 2004. Also, Sudan should see it."

But getting the film to auds around the world, let alone the U.S., is a challenge.

While there was significant buzz around "Kassim," African docs are a tough sales niche. Recent features like "War/Dance," "The Devil Came on Horseback" and "God Grew Tired of Us," garnered critical acclaim but couldn't muster much at the box office.

Midway through the fest, four high-profile buyers were circling "Pray," which landed the documentary feature nod at the May 1 kudos ceremony.

"I'm not going to go to a distributor with my hat in my hand," says Disney. "There's no reason for us to settle. I'm going in with high expectations."