Lost Boys Of Sudan: Disneyesque Docurama Takes On Refugee Resettlement Program~

A staff person at my library heard my complaint over not yet getting this disturbing documentary called Invisible Children and he recommended the 2004 documentary called Lost Boys of Sudan, saying it would also be disturbing. Then I listened to a live talk that U.S. Ambassador John Bolton gave in Lincoln and one part of his speech was about the continuing crisis in the Sudan and how the U.N.’s Security Council was hoping to prevent more chaos from erupting at the end of this month. From the information on screen that opened Lost Boys, civil war has rocked Sudan for twenty years because of the different religions there. Muslims in the north with the power and Christians in the south.

We soon meet the two south Sudanese boys that the directors/producers (as well as cinematographer and sound recordist) Jon Shenk and Megan Mylan chose out of 3800 on their way to America, all of whom believed they were on their way to heaven. Really. I suppose they were told that everyone here is Christian and it’s a land of peace, opportunity and dreams. They had no idea what they were getting into.

Both Peter and Santino lost their parents when their Dinka tribe in south Sudan was attacked by Muslim extremists and so they are called “lost boys.” Still they have a lot of supportive friends and relatives who they sadly leave with promises to keep in touch. The unrelated, wide-eyed boys are flown to Nairobi and then Houston, Texas, where members of the Y.M.C.A. meet them and take them to their new home, an apartment for four boys, but though they are excited at first, reality sets in pretty quickly.

They are unable to get into school, their purpose in coming, and Peter takes off impulsively for Olathe, Kansas, when the opportunity arises. He’s able to enroll as a junior in high school with some fancy paperwork (no birth certificate or knowledge of age) and we follow him into his classes and his attempts to make friends and the basketball team. Santino gets a factory job, but the other roommates soon vanish too, without a word. At least Peter called Santino to apologize and promises to send rent money. Santino is not happy and only gets pressured by his family back home to send money he doesn’t have. They don’t understand his problems, such as three tickets for driving without a license, no driver’s insurance and running a red light while commuting to work over an hour away. Why wasn’t he told about buses?

Instead Santino is told about how God must be watching over him and we see him go to a Christian get-together where they sing. A year later all the kids in the Refugee Resettlement Program are brought together at a camp outside Washington, D.C., to relax by a lake. We see how smart Peter is when he writes a paper to get into college that his guidance counselor is impressed with and then the docurama ends with him graduating. Yaah!

I was a little disturbed with Lost Boys of Sudan. I’ve read The Middle of Everywhere by Mary Pipher about her year helping refugees resettle here in Lincoln, so I knew those Sudanese boys would have a tough time, but it disturbed me that they were sent to a city that wouldn’t allow them to attend school and they had to make their own way as best as they could in an alien culture. Their discussions about America observed by the camera were frank and revealing. They would’ve liked to go home, but then they would’ve failed their loved ones, and how could they afford a ticket, anyway? I felt very sad for most of them, even more lost now, although Peter seemed happy and hopeful for the future.

Another disturbing thing about the film is that everybody was so nice or polite and helpful to the boys. Santino did mention the stares he received and how it made him feel, but that’s about as far as it goes. It’s just weird, like watching a children’s Christian movie or Disney. The directors in their interview (a bonus feature) hope that we will emotionally connect with the boys and discuss the movie with our friends. While I liked the boys, the docurama did not impress me nearly as much as Pipher’s hard-hitting book.

Lost Boys of Sudan seems to have more of a Christian audience in mind who would wonder if it was right to uproot the boys and bring them here. I don’t think it was right because of the way they did it and that’s disturbing. I realize Sudan’s a violent place to live, but, my gosh, so is Houston or any number of places in the United States where they could be in just as much danger.

Samples of traditional and contemporary Dinka music, filmmaker commentary, deleted scenes, an interesting update on the boys and the usual bonus features are included on the DVD. The New Video film is 87 minutes and is unrated, but it seems PG to me.

My review of The Middle of Everywhere: http://www.epinions.com/content_196896263812