This documentary chronicles the courageous journey of three young Southern Sudanese men, John Dau, Daniel Pach and Panther Bior, to the United States where they strive for a brighter future.
Along with 27,000 other young boys in the early 1980s known as "The Lost Boys of Sudan", they had walked a thousand miles barefoot through harsh terrain to escape the twenty-two year civil war that pitted the Sudanese government against the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army. They made it to a camp in Ethiopia where they lived for three years in hopes of returning to Sudan but then additional violence forced them to make yet another arduous trek to escape Ethiopia. During the five years they walked in search of safety, thousands died from starvation, dehydration, bomb raids and genocidal murder.
Finally, with their number dwindled down to 12,000, they found relative safety in Kenya’s Kakuma refugee camp. While the refugee camp was their physical home away from Sudan, their real home become what they had nurtured in their hearts. Already forced into a makeshift family, these boys formed what they called Parliament, a gathering group where they can tell stories, encourage one another and share their hearts. They were inevitably brought together after years of children burying children, feeding sick brothers that could no longer move and watching their peers drop dead. These memories are brought to life as the three boys, now men, remember the harrowing events which brought them to the States.
John, Daniel and Panther along with 3,600 boys were invited by the United States to live in America in 2001. Through sponsorship from Catholic Charities International, the three boys had their lives once again changed dramatically as they left their brotherhood to the unknown. We see their first encounter with electricity and the modern conveniences we are so used to as they step onto the airplane that will take them to Europe then to New York City. When John hears the captain speaking from the overhead intercom he wonders where "that voice is coming from?", this is just one of many humorous fish-out-water moments.
The three young men were assigned specific American cities in which they will reside, John settles in Syracuse, N.Y. while Panther and Daniel arrive in Pittsburgh. They are given a tour of their apartments (a world which they were unfamiliar with) so they know how to operate: a light switch, a trash can, a shower, a refrigerator and an alarm clock. Their guide stresses the later device because, "In America, time is money." Work is one of the many things they have to get use to as they come to find it consumes the majority of their days. Yet, they have no problem working since their family and friends are always on their hearts. They put money aside to send back to their camp in Kenya as well as any family they've been able to find. At one point, John postpones his plans for school to work a third job when he finds that his family is alive and not-so well in Uganda.
The film continues to show how these "Lost Boys" have to adapt to the shock of being thrust into an economically intense culture. I didn't mind at all seeing how they have to learn new customs, adapt to new and strange foods, cope with the ordeal of getting, and keeping a job, or multiple jobs, while never forgetting who they are and where they're from. I just felt like at times the director took to much time on this, rather than the more interesting response of the white folks who would often stare at them in curious fear. It's during these times that an American viewer cannot help but examine his/her own lifestyle and culture.
I was continuously impressed at the commendable resilience these men displayed. Sure, they would deal with loneliness and guilt but never once did I hear them express anger with the inequality they observed both in Africa and in the States. “It’s not in their nature," the narrator calmly explains."which is uniquely ‘Dinka’. They are not judgmental.” That in and of itself, is quite a unique trait and makes the lives of these men all the more impressive.
The film was produced, written and directed by Christopher Quinn and co-directed by Tommy Walker. It wasn't until the help of actors Catherine Keener and Dermot Mulroney executive produced by Brad Pitt and narrated by Nicole Kidman. The title of the documentary is a quote from the tall, charismatic John Dau discussing the despair he and other Sudanese felt during their civil war plight.