Lost Boys of Sudan shows us America through fresh eyes

Friday, the Coastside Film Society presents The Lost Boys of Sudan.

In 2001, 3,800 Sudanese youngsters were relocated to the United States. For nearly two decades, children have been the pawns in a brutal civil war raging throughout the Darfur region of Sudan.  This is one of those wars that turns innocent children into soldiers forcing them to murder relatives, friends and neighbors.  The only rational response to this sort of violence is to run as far away as possible.  And that is exactly what Santino Chuor and his friend Peter Dut have done.  When they are offered the possibility to relocate from a refugee camp in Kenya to the US they jump at the chance to get as far away as they can.

"Lost Boys of Sudan" documents Peter and Santiano’s first year fending for themselves in their new home of Houston Texas.  The film touches only superficially upon their struggles in Africa.  Instead we get to see America through the eyes of these two orphaned teenagers whose previous life in a war torn land of shepherds and rural cattle farms does little to prepare them for their new life as minimum wage refugees.

The film was brought to our attention by Arianna Morales, a native of El Granada and a student at Vassar College.  Arianna is a member of the Genocide Intervention Fund—a collection of students so outraged by how little our government is doing in Darfur that they began fundraising to support the UN sanctioned peacekeeping efforts in the region.

It is an insightful documentary, often compared to "Daughter of Danang" which got so much acclaim when we screened it last year.  All proceeds from this screening will be forwarded to the Genocide Intervention Fund. We also want to thank the Methodist Church of Half Moon Bay, which has waved their usual venue fee for this screening.
More information at: www.HMBFilm.org, www.genocideinterventionfund.org or www.lostboysfilm.com

Friday, August 19, 2005 at 8:00pm
Community Methodist Sanctuary
777 Miramontes, Corner of Johnston & Miramontes
Half Moon Bay

All donations will go to peacekeeping efforts in Sudan