About the library > News Releases > 2006 > Lost Boys of Sudan film focuses on journey of refugees

Lost Boys of Sudan film focuses on journey of refugees

October 4, 2006

Contact:

  • Jennifer May, Central Library, 503.988.5728
  • Theresa Burks, World Affairs Council of Oregon, 503.274.7488

PORTLAND, OR – Multnomah County Library and the World Affairs Council of Oregon will host two free screenings of Lost Boys of Sudan, a critically acclaimed documentary that follows two Sudanese refugees on an extraordinary journey from Africa to America. The screenings will be Tuesday, Nov. 7 at 6:15 p.m. at the Hollywood Theatre, 4122 N.E. Sandy Blvd., Portland; and Wednesday, Nov. 8 at 6:15 p.m. in the Moriarty Arts & Humanities Building, Room 104 at Portland Community College, Cascade Campus, 705 N. Killingsworth St., Portland. At each screening, filmmaker Megan Mylan and local "Lost Boy" Isaac Chol will lead a discussion and answer questions.

Lost Boys of Sudan tells the story of Santino Chuor and Peter Dut, who were orphaned in the longest-running civil war in Africa. Along with thousands of other children, they walked hundreds of miles, surviving lion attacks and militia gunfire, to reach the Kakama refugee camp in Kenya. There they were chosen to come to America, where they found themselves confronted with the abundance and alienation of contemporary American suburbia.

The documentary was filmed in Africa, Houston and Kansas City. Lost Boys of Sudan was broadcast nationally on PBS, won the Independent Spirit Award, and was nominated for two national Emmy awards.

The film screenings are part of a national outreach campaign to raise local public awareness and support for refugees and the current crisis in Darfur, Sudan. A grant from an anonymous donor is enabling the filmmakers to plan free public screenings of the film in cities all across the country and donate more than a thousand copies of the film's educators DVD to schools and community organizations. Local support for the Portland screenings is being provided by the African Community Coalition of Oregon, African Women's Coalition, Cascade Festival of African Films, Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO), Jubilee Oregon, Mercy Corps and Portland Coalition for Genocide Awareness.

For more information on Lost Boys of Sudan, go to www.lostboysfilm.com. For more information on library events, go to www.multcolib.org/events/.