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| In America: One of two Sudanese refugees in Lost Boys of Suddan. |
Lost Boys of Sudan, at Film Forum, is a pretty good documentary about a great subject. The ongoing twenty-year civil war in Sudan has orphaned more than 20,000 boys, who escaped village massacres while their fathers were killed and their mothers and sisters taken as slaves. Many ended up in Ethiopian and Kenyan refugee camps, where some have been sponsored by religious and civic groups and airlifted to America for a new start. Directors Megan Mylan and Jon Shenk follow two boys: Santino, who goes to Houston and finds himself alienated even from American blacks, and Peter, who arrives in Kansas, where he makes the honor roll in high school but works two drudge jobs and appears to have no close friends. The movie often offers up fascinating footage, like a scene where Peter is brought together with white Christian teens to sing hymns, only to cut away the next moment. But when Peter, exhausted and disillusioned, says, “It’s clear there is no heaven on earth,” it’s enough to make you cry.
(1
hr. 27 mins.; NR)
— PETER RAINER
Opens February 20 at Film Forum
• Showtimes
& tickets (movietickets.com)
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