Lost Boys Documentary Analysis

Lives of The “Lost Boys” of Sudan

Sudan has been involved in a Civil war fueled by religious conflicts since the 1980s. Thousands of children have experienced extreme hardship and unspeakable after effects. Their story is told through a film known as the “Lost Boys of Sudan.” They arrive at the Kakuma refugee camps without any guidance from their parents. The film follows the journey of these boys from their war riddled lives in Sudan, to a completely new way of life in the United States of America. These boys imagined the United States as heaven where anything was achievable at their will.

In 1987, the civil war in Sudan forced 20,000 young boys from their families out of southern Sudan. These boys were of the Nuer and Dinka ethnic groups who were orphaned during the Second Sudanese Civil War. The root of conflict of this civil war can be attributed to religious conflicts between the northern region of Sudan which was primarily Muslim and the southern region of Sudan which had a greater Christianity influence. These conflicts led to systematic attacks in the southern part of the country where many were massacred due to religious disparities. Prior to this Civil War, many of the young men from Sudan spent much of their time away from their villages where these massacres occurred. They avoided much of the conflicts as they were away from their

Additionally, after ultimately adjusting in their camps, their expectations of America varied regarding different cultural aspects. They had curiosity, as well as quite a bit of cultivation generalizations. Their expectations eventfully lead them to feeling alienated. For example, according to Santino, when he goes near pedestrians, they look at him due to his “odd” skin color. (Mylan & Shenk; 2004). He feels