Harrowing 'Lost Boys' film depicts grim Sudanese plight

By: Heath D. Williams

Posted: 4/16/07

"God Grew Tired of Us" opens with hope: a shot of Sudanese refugees checking the list of those who have been relocated to the United States.

Their bright eyes scan the list, looking for their name, for their freedom and salvation.

After the scene is over, however, the film abandons that hope and begins its harrowing tale of the "Lost Boys of Sudan."

Directed by Christopher Quinn and narrated by Nicole Kidman, with Brad Pitt as executive producer, the documentary won two first-place awards at the Sundance Film Festival.

The film follows three of the more than 30,000 Lost Boys as they flee their homelands during the Sudanese civil war on their barefoot plight through the African wilderness and as they form refugee camps, waiting for their hardship to end. The three boys featured in the film are one of the few chosen to be sent to the United States.

One of the three Lost Boys featured in the film is John Bul Dau, a student at Syracuse University's University College.

The beginning of the film is hard to watch, but important to watch.

Quinn intertwines gruesome, heartbreaking images with personal accounts of the Lost Boys to paint a vivid, ugly picture of the terrors these boys faced during their voyage through the wilderness and at the refugee camps.

Once the boys move to the United States, the film becomes very entertaining. These men have never seen life outside of Africa. They don't know what an apartment is, what electricity is, what a refrigerator is or what a toilet is.

Seeing them try to adjust to American life provides very humorous moments - like the boys' first trip to a grocery store. They cannot believe everything in the store is edible and ready to purchase, and they try a donut for the first time.

The film's emotional force never quits, however. They still feel unsafe and unsatisfied, knowing their loved ones and those they traveled thousands of miles with are still in Africa starving.

Dau applies to have his mother and sister relocated to the United States as well, and the family has its long-awaited reunion at Syracuse's Hancock International Airport. Dau's mother collapses on the floor with happiness, chanting and singing an African song praising God. The scene tugs on the heartstrings of everyone watching, perfectly exemplifying even though these men are living in America, their lives are still not ideal.