A group of Sudanese refugees, given the chance to resettle in the U.S., arrive in Kansas City, Missouri, where their encounter with an employment agency counselor forever changes all of thei... Read allA group of Sudanese refugees, given the chance to resettle in the U.S., arrive in Kansas City, Missouri, where their encounter with an employment agency counselor forever changes all of their lives.A group of Sudanese refugees, given the chance to resettle in the U.S., arrive in Kansas City, Missouri, where their encounter with an employment agency counselor forever changes all of their lives.
- Awards
- 3 wins & 7 nominations
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Storyline
Did you know
- Trivia"The Lost Boys of Sudan", the name given to over 20,000 boys of the Nuer and Dinka ethnic groups, who were displaced and/or orphaned during the Second Sudanese Civil War, served as inspiration for the movie.
- GoofsAfter Jeremiah quits his grocery job and goes back to the employment agency, the phone number in the window is a St Louis area code, not Kansas City.
- Quotes
Young Jeremiah: Some of these people have no color.
Young Mamere: Because they are born without skin.
- ConnectionsFeatured in MsMojo: Top 10 Reese Witherspoon Performances (2017)
- SoundtracksThon Ci Ben e Nyoth De Gem
Written by Mary Garang
Featured review
This can be a touching and humorous movie, which has the rare ability to transfer thematic elements from the harrowing and horrific to sugary sweet humor, all in one film. It centers around a group of young Sudanese refugees living in the Kakuma Refugee Camp, in Kenya, who are selected after 13 years at the camp to participate in a relocation program to America, which became known at the time as the "Lost Boys of Sudan". Actually, they will be sponsored and under the auspices of the Faith Based Charities organization once they arrive in the U.S.A..
The first part of the movie can be difficult to watch, as it depicts the horrors of the Sudanese Civil War, and how these surviving children saw their families killed by invading troops. Also, how they trekked nearly 900 miles across the sub-Sahara, under the most dangerous and difficult conditions to reach the Kakuma Camp. The remainder of the film depicts the culture shock awaiting them in Kansas City as they relocate to America.
Reese Witherspoon is superb, as usual, as Carrie Davis, an employment counselor assigned to help the new arrivals find local jobs as soon as possible, but who will also become more involved in their well being. Corey Stoll and Sarah Baker also add well to the mix in supporting roles.
The group of young Sudanese that the film focuses on, are all either actual refugees from the camp, some being child soldiers at one point, or direct descendants of refugees in the camp. Their performances are terrific and there's lots of deadpan humor that emerges from their characters. The group includes Arnold Oceng, as Mamere, Ger Duany, as Jeremiah, Emmanuel Jal, as Paul, and Kuoth Weil, as Abital.
The film was directed by Canadian filmmaker Philippe Falardeau (Monsieur Lazhar), and written by Margaret Nagle.
By the way, there is a well presented documentary on this exact subject called "Lost Boys of Sudan", which I viewed in the last year or so, that you may want to check out.
In summary, I thought this movie had heart and was able to illustrate the ravages of war, but then show what can happen when people are given a second chance in life.
The first part of the movie can be difficult to watch, as it depicts the horrors of the Sudanese Civil War, and how these surviving children saw their families killed by invading troops. Also, how they trekked nearly 900 miles across the sub-Sahara, under the most dangerous and difficult conditions to reach the Kakuma Camp. The remainder of the film depicts the culture shock awaiting them in Kansas City as they relocate to America.
Reese Witherspoon is superb, as usual, as Carrie Davis, an employment counselor assigned to help the new arrivals find local jobs as soon as possible, but who will also become more involved in their well being. Corey Stoll and Sarah Baker also add well to the mix in supporting roles.
The group of young Sudanese that the film focuses on, are all either actual refugees from the camp, some being child soldiers at one point, or direct descendants of refugees in the camp. Their performances are terrific and there's lots of deadpan humor that emerges from their characters. The group includes Arnold Oceng, as Mamere, Ger Duany, as Jeremiah, Emmanuel Jal, as Paul, and Kuoth Weil, as Abital.
The film was directed by Canadian filmmaker Philippe Falardeau (Monsieur Lazhar), and written by Margaret Nagle.
By the way, there is a well presented documentary on this exact subject called "Lost Boys of Sudan", which I viewed in the last year or so, that you may want to check out.
In summary, I thought this movie had heart and was able to illustrate the ravages of war, but then show what can happen when people are given a second chance in life.
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Брехня на спасіння
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $20,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $2,722,209
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $841,422
- Oct 5, 2014
- Gross worldwide
- $3,396,345
- Runtime1 hour 50 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
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