The Free the Children club will be showing the award-winning film “God Grew Tired of Us: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan” today at 4 p.m. in the Eagle Theatre.
The film will focus on the plight of Africans living in war-stricken countries. Admission is free, and the club will be selling popcorn during the movie. All profits will go to help the club and its cause of promoting children’s rights.
“We feel like we’re really privileged to be able to have such a good education,” club co-president junior Katelyn Lo said. “We feel like we should give other children the opportunity to have the privilege.”
“God Grew Tired of Us” tells the true story of the group of Sudanese refugees who came to become known as the Lost Boys. More than 27,000 of these boys fled their country in order to escape persecution from the Sudanese Muslim government in 1987.
Starvation and bombings killed many during their exodus, and these boys walked thousands of miles for five years until they arrived at safety in Kenya.
The film follows the journeys of three of these boys: John Bul Dau, Daniel Pach and Panther Bior. Using archival footage, it pieces together the details of their hardships as they fled their homeland in search of safety.
Finally, when the three boys arrive in the United States, the film focuses on the new challenges they face as they deal with a new culture, the trauma of their ordeals and the homesickness for the people they left behind. Two eventually move to Pittsburgh, and the last becomes a spokesperson against the conflict.
The Free the Children club decided to show the film in order to raise awareness about children’s rights in Africa, and it hopes to “make people realize that other kids around the world actually don’t get all the things that we have,” according to club co-president Sara Raza.
“God Grew Tired of Us” was produced, written and directed by Christopher Quinn, executive produced by Brad Pitt and narrated by Nicole Kidman. The film won two awards at the Sundance Film Festival: the “Grand Jury Prize: Documentary”and the “Audience Award” for the “Independent Film Competition: Documentary”category.
Free the Children is planning on hosting guest human rights speakers discussing children’s rights later this month in conjunction with Amnesty International.
The club meets every Friday in room P13 during lunch. New members are invited to join.