POV: Lost Boys of Sudan

• Winner of an Independent Spirit Award and named Best Documentary at the San Francisco International Film Festival, Lost Boys of Sudan follows two teenage Sudanese refugees on an extraordinary journey from Africa to America, offering a gripping and sobering peek into the myth of the American Dream. In the late 80s, Islamic fundamentalists in Sudan waged war on the country s separatists, leaving beh

An award-winning, critically acclaimed film, narrated by Nicole Kidman, God Grew Tired of Us explores the indomitable spirit of three "Lost Boys" from the Sudan who are forced to leave their homeland due to a tumultuous civil war. The film chronicles their triumph over seemingly insurmountable adversities and a relocation to America, where the Lost Boys build active and fulfilling new lives but remain deeply committed to helping friends and family they have left behind.

Orphaned b! y a tumultuous civil war and traveling barefoot across the sub-Saharan desert, John Bul Dau, Daniel Abol Pach and Panther Blor were among the 25,000 "Lost Boys" (ages 3 to 13) who fled villages, formed surrogate families and sought refuge from famine, disease, wild animals and attacks from rebel soldiers. Named by a journalist after Peter Pan’s posse of orphans who protected and provided for each other, the "Lost Boys" traveled together for five years and against all odds crossed into the UN’s refugee camp in Kakuma, Kenya. A journey’s end for some, it was only the beginning for John, Daniel and Panther, who along with 3800 other young survivors, were selected to re-settle in the United States.

God Grew Tired of Us is as much about America as it is about Africa. The moving documentary begins in war-torn Sudan with the mid-1980s exodus of 27,000 Christian boys, most between five and ten. After their arrival in Kenya, the UN steps in with aid. Directors Christ! opher Quinn and Tommy Walker pick up the story a decade later,! narrowi ng their focus to Panther, John, and Daniel, three of 3,800 given the opportunity to resettle in the US. Quinn and Walker are with them when they land in the States, where everything is new and exciting--electricity, running water, pre-packaged foodstuffs--all the things Americans take for granted. Through the assistance of various relief organizations, their expenses are covered for the next few months. After that, the trio is expected to provide for themselves (they're older than the subjects in 2003's The Lost Boys of Sudan). Divided between Pittsburgh, PA and Syracuse, NY, the young men are thrilled with their suburban lives. Over the next year, however, joy turns to sorrow. They miss their families and have trouble making connections beyond their social group. The directors document another two years, by which point things are finally starting to look up. Produced by Brad Pitt, God Grew Tired of Us won the Documentary Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at! Sundance. Nicole Kidman provides a little narration, but for the most part, the Lost Boys speak for themselves, which is exactly as it should be. --Kathleen C. Fennessy"Lost Boy" John Bul Dau’s harrowing experience surviving the brutal horrors of Sudanese civil war and his adjustment to life in modern America is chronicled in this inspiring memoir and featured in an award-winning documentary film of the same name. Movingly written, the book traces Dau’s journey through hunger, exhaustion, terror, and violence as he fled his homeland, dodging ambushes, massacres and attacks by wild animals. His tortuous, 14-year journey began in 1987, when he was just 13, and took him on a 1,000-mile walk, barefoot, to Ethiopia, back to Sudan, then to a refugee camp in Kenya, where he lived with thousands of other Lost Boys. In 2001, at the age of 27, he immigrated to the United States. With touching humor, Dau recounts the shock of his tribal culture colliding with life in Ameri! ca. He shares the joy of reuniting with his family and the cha! llenges of making a new life for himself while never forgetting the other Lost Boys he left behind.No Description Available.
Genre: Documentary
Rating: PG
Release Date: 4-MAR-2008
Media Type: DVDGod Grew Tired of Us is as much about America as it is about Africa. The moving documentary begins in war-torn Sudan with the mid-1980s exodus of 27,000 Christian boys, most between five and ten. After their arrival in Kenya, the UN steps in with aid. Directors Christopher Quinn and Tommy Walker pick up the story a decade later, narrowing their focus to Panther, John, and Daniel, three of 3,800 given the opportunity to resettle in the US. Quinn and Walker are with them when they land in the States, where everything is new and exciting--electricity, running water, pre-packaged foodstuffs--all the things Americans take for granted. Through the assistance of various relief organizations, their expenses are covered for the next few months. After tha! t, the trio is expected to provide for themselves (they're older than the subjects in 2003's The Lost Boys of Sudan). Divided between Pittsburgh, PA and Syracuse, NY, the young men are thrilled with their suburban lives. Over the next year, however, joy turns to sorrow. They miss their families and have trouble making connections beyond their social group. The directors document another two years, by which point things are finally starting to look up. Produced by Brad Pitt, God Grew Tired of Us won the Documentary Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at Sundance. Nicole Kidman provides a little narration, but for the most part, the Lost Boys speak for themselves, which is exactly as it should be. --Kathleen C. FennessyDirected by Laura Waters Hinson and narrated by Mia Farrow comes the award-winning documentary of two Rwandan women who struggle with the face-to-face encounter with the men who slaughtered their families during the 1994 genocide. These wom! en and men speak for a nation still wracked by the grief of a ! genocide that killed one in eight Rwandans. Overwhelmed by an enormous backlog of court cases, the government released 50,000 perpetrators back to the very communities they helped to destroy. Without the hope of full justice, Rwanda has turned to a new solution of reconciliation. Come experience through their eyes the journey from death to life through forgiveness. Features: Narration by actress Mia Farrow, True stories told by the Rwandans who lived through the genocide, Features music by Emmy award-winning composers: Lenny Williams and Chris Biondo, Widescreen format. Bonus Features: English sub-titles and narration, Closed Caption added, Region All perfect for international customers.(Drama) In April 1994, one of the most heinous genocides in world history began in the African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of 100 days, an estimated 800,000 people were killed in a terrifying purge by Hutu nationalists against their Tutsi countrymen. This harrowing HBO Films dr! ama focuses on the almost indescribable human atrocities that took place a decade ago through the story of two Hutu brothers--one in the military, one a radio personality--whose relationship and private lives were forever changed in the midst of the genocide. Written and directed by Raoul Peck, (HBO Films' Lumumba) the movie is the first large-scale film about the 100 days of the 1994 Rwandan genocide to be shot in Rwanda, in the locations where the real-life events transpired.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
Featurette
Photo gallery

A clear-eyed look at the Rwandan genocide is offered in Sometimes in April, a frank take on the 1994 slaughter that claimed upwards of 800,000 lives. Some overlap with Hotel Rwanda is inevitable, and this HBO feature does have similarities, but without the strong suspenseful storyline of Hotel. Its protagonist (the strong Idris Elba, from The Wire) pieces together the past! tragedy from the perspective of a decade-later war-crimes tri! bunal, w here his brother is on trial. It's hard to know which is less bearable--the depiction of atrocities, such as mass murder at a girls school, or the second-guessing of the international community, which largely stood by while the horror was unfolding. (Like Hotel Rwanda, this film zeroes in on the U.S. government's distinction that "acts of genocide" occurred in Rwanda rather than "genocide," a Joseph Heller-like absurdity.) The plain style of director Raoul Peck, shooting on location in Rwanda, works for the subject; his film Lumumba was also a direct, blunt account of a tragedy in Africa. The approach doesn't work as well in the U.S. scenes, which feature Debra Winger as a concerned official; these just look clumsy. But the subject itself remains worthy of close attention. --Robert HortonThis digital document is an article from Childhood Education, published by Association for Childhood Education International on January 1, 2009. The length of the articl! e is 1351 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Video reviews.(God Grew Tired of Us)(Dead Poets Society)(Marley and Me)(Video recording review)
Author: Carole S. Campbell
Publication: Childhood Education (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2009
Publisher: Association for Childhood Education International
Volume: 85 Issue: 5 Page: 335(2)

Article Type: Video recording review

Distributed by Gale, a part of Cengage LearningWinner of an Independent Spirit Award and named Best Documentary at the San Francisco International Film Festival, LOST BOYS OF SUDAN follows two teenage Sudanese refugees on an ext! raordinary journey from Africa to America, offering a gripping! and sob ering peek into the myth of the American Dream. In the late ‘80s, Islamic fundamentalists in Sudan waged war on the country’s separatists, leaving behind over 20,000 male orphans, otherwise known as "lost boys." For those who survived this traumatic ordeal and found their way to refugee camps, som were chosen to participate in a resettlement program in America--a distant place so presumably full of hope and opportunity that the Sudanese sometimes call it Heaven. But what if a free ticket to "Heaven" turned out to be anything but? Sidestepping conventional voice-over narration in favor of real-time, close-quarters poignancy, LOST BOYS OF SUDAN focuses on Santino and Peter, members of the Dinka tribe, during their first life-altering year in the United States. Safe at last from physical danger--but a world away from home--the boys must grapple with extreme cultural differences as they come to understand both the abundance and alienation of contemporary American life.Los! t Boys of Sudan, which premiered on PBS's P.O.V. series in 2003, is a gripping documentary about young refugees from the Sudanese conflict as well as a moving story of survival and acclimation in a strange and daunting land. The film centers around two young Dinka tribesmen who must flee a vicious civil war in their homeland and risk thirst, starvation, and animal attack to reach refugee camps thousands of miles away in Kenya in Ethiopia. Once there, the "lost boys'" journey begins again, as they are resettled in Houston, Texas, and must start new lives in a completely alien country. Eventually, their adjustment to 21st century life becomes the film's main focus; can they join American society and still retain their tribal connections? Told in simple but powerful images, Lost Boys of Sudan affectingly addresses themes of home, acceptance, family, and what it means to be a member of societyâ€"-both America and the global community. --Paul Gaita
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Playskool Alphie

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• Fun and engaging electronic robot figure
• Introduce your child to letters, math skills, special reasoning, cause and effect and much more
• Robot figure sings and plays music and features light up buttons
• Robot figure comes with 30 double-sided cards

Playskool Alphie Fun and engaging electronic robot figure introduces your child to letters, math skills, special reasoning, cause and effect and much more. Robot figure “sings and plays music and features light up buttons! Robot figure comes with 30 double-sided cards Includes 3 “AA batteries Recommended Ages: 3 years & up

Days of Glory / Indigenes (Blu-ray)

• Days of Glory (Blu-ray)
• Indigenes blu-ray
• Days of Glory
• Jamel Debbouze,Roschdy Zem
• Sami Bouajila,Samy Naceri

(War/Action) Set during WWII, North African soldiers enlist in the French army and battle their way across Europe to liberate the "fatherland" and confront discrimination.Hype can be a dangerous thing, and the newspaper ads touting Days of Glory (aka Indigenes, French for "Indigenous") as "so powerful it changed the world" are nigh on impossible for any movie to live up to. This one doesn't, but director Rachid Bouchareb's World War II drama still makes for compelling viewing. Confronting the Nazis both in Italy and at home in 1943, the French Army recruits men from Algeria, then a French colony, and other North Africans to help out. Of the film's two principal themes, one, the horrors of war, is nothing new. But the battle scenes are w! ell done; the first major clash, on a bleak Italian hillside, effectively conveys the young Muslims' confusion and abject terror. The second theme is clearly the one that inspired Bouchareb in the first place: the eternal issue of race and discrimination (also explored in 1989's Glory, about black soldiers in the Civil War). Focusing in particular on four Algerians, including Jamel Debbouze as the naïve Saïd and Roschdy Zem as the lovestruck Messaoud, the films depicts how they are denied basics like food, mail delivery, time off, and such, effectively rendering meaningless the French ideal of liberty, equality, and brotherhood. It all culminates in a small town in Alsace, where the four find brief respite before having to face a much larger and better equipped German force (this scene, as well as a final bit in a cemetery, carry heavy echoes of Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan). Bouchareb apparently made Days of Glory at least in part to shame ! the French government into handing over long-frozen pensions t! o surviv ing soldiers and their kin. French president Jacques Chirac finally approved the funds in 2006--apparently after seeing this film. So maybe it did change the world a little after all. --Sam GrahamThe critically acclaimed and Oscar« nominated* war epic Days of Glory (Indigènes) is "a chronicle of courage and sacrificeàtold with power, grace and feeling and brought alive by first-rate acting" (A.O. Scott, The New York Times). Telling the true story of a band of World War II soldiers who heroically fought their way across Europe while battling discrimination within their own ranks, the film was hailed for its "eloquent performances and potent action sequences" (Jan Stuart, Newsday). The Los Angeles Times' Kenneth Turan called it "a North African Saving Private Ryan, a taut, involving film that delivers all the things we look for in war movies."