The Good Lie--A Review

--I saw a pre-screening of The Good Lie last night.  It was an AMAZING movie!  I had high expectations going in, and yet it still surpassed them.

Why I Loved It
--The movie was accurate when it came to the facts.  Almost everything about the lost boys journey from Sudan to Ethiopia to Kenya was similar to what Valentino Achak Deng's account was in his book, What is the What.

--I love it when a movie that is based on true events, sticks closely to the real facts, and this movie did that.  After the lost boys journey, it also accurately depicted the Kakuma refugee camp and their transition to life in America.

--The acting was incredible.  Reese Witherspoon did an incredible job, and so did the kids and the adults that played the lost boys.

--The movie has heart.  It crafted things in a way that made you feel for the lost boys.  I teared up several times.

--This is a great movie for introducing many into what the Lost Boys have been through in Sudan, and what life is like for them once they get here in the U.S.

--I liked the reason for calling the movie, The Great Lie.

Previously:
What is the What--A Review
The Lost Boys of Sudan
Lost Boys in Kansas City--The Good Lie

Lost Boys in Kansas City--The Good Lie

That’s the story told in the new movie “The Good Lie,” which stars a brunette Reese Witherspoon as a Kansas City employment counselor who befriends the three young men. (The fourth refugee, the sister of one of the guys, gets sent to a family in Boston.)

The movie is fictional but based on real events: About 3,600 Lost Boys (and girls) from Sudan settled in the United States around 2001 after surviving civil war in their homeland. Sixty or so came to Kansas City then, and hundreds have arrived since.--Tim Engle

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/movies-news-reviews/article2168318.html#storylink=cpy

--I'm pretty excited, as I was reading my 2nd article about this movie in the Kansas City Star, I realized there might be a way to get free tickets to the upcoming screening.  I was successful, so I am going to see The Good Lie tomorrow night.

 
--The movie has ties to Kansas City, because it is supposed to take place here, although most of the filming was done in Atlanta.

The film is also being used to raise money for Lost Boys organizations through the Good Lie Fund (thegoodliefund.org). The fund’s initial focus will be the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, which was shot for the movie.

Two local kids and their father are prominently featured in “The Good Lie.” Keji Jale, 12 during filming, plays young Abital, the girl in the group, and her brother Okwar, 13, plays a boy named Theo. Filmmakers visited several U.S. cities with Sudanese communities, including Kansas City, and auditioned as many as 1,500 people.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/movies-news-reviews/article2168318.html#storylink=cpy

--I am looking forward to seeing this because of my love for Africa, and learning about the lost boys from Sudan.

--I will definitely be doing a review of the movie.  Stay Tuned...

Previously:
The Lost Boys of Sudan
What is the What--A Review

What is the What--A Review

--I have had a heart for Africa for awhile now.  Yet, even though I visited Senegal, West Africa, I have done more Africa posts about Sudan, than any other African country.

--Between the constant civil wars and the genocide in Darfur, there has been a lot of focus on Sudan, for those who cared to look.

--I heard a little about "the lost boys", but never made the connection that they were the lost boys of Sudan until I read Lopez Lomong's book, Running for my Life.

--What is the What is a very detailed account of Valentino Achak Deng's life, from when he was a child in Sudan with his family, to walking with other lost boys to Ethiopia, and then to a refugee camp in Kenya, and finally to the United States.

--It is amazing what Valentino survived as a child walking across Africa.  He was very fortunate, many, many other boys died.

--Yet, what one never thinks of, is how hard it might be for a "lost boy from Sudan" to adjust to life in the United States.  I'm sure many of us assume that once they get here, life would be easy.  But, just like the rest of us that live here, it is not always easy.

--I learned a lot and it just makes me want to learn more about the lost boys' plight and how they have survived.

--Valentino has continued his endeavor to help other lost boys and the people of Sudan, check out his foundation:
The Valentino Achak Deng (VAD) Foundation

Previous posts on Sudan:
--The Lost Boys of Sudan!
--Pray for Peace for Sudan
--Sudan--Global Day of Prayer!
--Horrific Flogging of Woman in Sudan!
--President Bush Fed up with UN's Lack of Action on Darfur
--Genocide in Darfur
--A review of Attack on Darfur

The Lost Boys of Sudan!

Monday is Africa day, so since I'm in the middle of What is the What, I thought it would be good to talk about the Lost Boys of Sudan.

Who are the Lost Boys?

The Lost Boys of Sudan is the name given to the groups of over 20,000 boys of the Nuer and Dinka ethnic groups who were displaced and/or orphaned during the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983 to 2005); about 2.5 million were killed and millions were displaced.  The name "Lost Boys of Sudan" was colloquially used by aid workers in the refugee camp where the boys resided in Africa. The term was revived, as children fled the post-independence violence of South Sudan with Sudan during 2011–13.--Lost Boys of Sudan

Since 1983, the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and the Sudanese Government have been at war in southern Sudan. The conflict has already claimed more than 500,000 lives and displaced huge numbers of people. Among these were at least 20,000 children, mostly boys, between 7 and 17 years of age who were separated from their families. 

These'lost boys' of the Sudan trekked enormous distances over a vast unforgiving wilderness, seeking refuge from the fighting. Hungry, frightened and weakened by sleeplessness and disease, they crossed from the Sudan into Ethiopia and back, with many dying along the way. The survivors are now in camps in Kenya, the Sudan and Uganda.--Unicef

 I read Running for my Life back in 2012. Here is my short review:

This book is amazing! It is the true life story of a lost boy from Sudan who makes it to America. I have a heart for Africa, especially Sudan, so I found this story fascinating. Lopez is also a Christian whose faith carries him through his many hardships in Sudan and Kenya and after he makes it to America. God provided him a loving family and parents who believed in him.

He went on to compete in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. He now has a foundation that helps many in Sudan. The book was hard to put down, and the author does a great job of pulling you in to become a part of the story. I highly recommend this book.

I am currently reading What is the What.  Below is part of a New York magazine review about the book:

What Is the What tells the story of a refugee from the second Sudanese civil war (1983–2005), one of the 20,000 so-called Lost Boys who walked thousands of miles from their decimated villages (their homes burned by Arab militiamen, most of the adults slaughtered) to relative safety in Ethiopia and later Kenya.

In a region with no shortage of unimaginable horrors—the ongoing genocide in Darfur has taken some 300,000 lives with no signs of abating—the particulars of the Lost Boys have long stood out as a crushing reminder of the primitive cruelty of African warfare.

Few were older than 10 when they were displaced, and many died during their journey, some of starvation and dehydration, others at the mercy of lions and armed forces. It is a tragedy related by the extraordinarily clear-eyed Valentino Achak Deng, one of 4,000 refugees offered sanctuary in the U.S. in 2001, who is reflecting back while trying to survive an altogether different struggle: assimilation into a culture defined by its short-term memory and chronic indifference to the world beyond its borders.

I recently watched the documentary, Lost Boys of Sudan which shows the difficulties of transitioning to life in the United States.

My heart goes out to the countless children of Sudan, and other African countries who have been orphaned by war.  The needs are great, but we can all take action and do something, even if it seems small.