Greene County Library

Fourth Wednesday Free Film
7:00 PM
Free film, fun, conversation

Wednesday, August 27, 2008
7:00 pm

As eloquently portrayed in this award-winning documentary, a generation of Baltimore's inner-city African-American boys face dilemmas that would undo most adults.

In this case, they are told early on that they face three stark "dress" options by their 18th birthdays — prison orange, a suit in a box, or a high school cap and gown. The four young boys featured in this film, despite individual talents and considerable personal charms, cannot escape the common fate expressed by those dress options. But fate comes to them with a remarkable and fickle twist — an experimental boarding school in rural Kenya. A collaboration with P.O.V. PBS’ award-winning nonfiction film series Link

Running Time:  84 minutes

PBS "Boys of Baraka" page

Synopsis

 Main Credits

Awards & Nominations

Directors’ Statement

Filmmaker Bios

37th Annual NAACP Image Awards 2006

Best Documentary Feature:

2005 Atlanta Film Festival, 2005 Newport International Film Festival,

2005 Chicago International Film Festival

Audience Award:

2005 AFI Discovery/Silverdocs Film Festival, 2005 Woodstock Film Festival

“The Boys of Baraka” is a unique coming-of–age story that follows a group of extraordinary 12-year-old boys from the most violent ghettos of Baltimore to an experimental boarding school in the most rural corner of Kenya, East Africa. An emotionally explosive journey shot over three years, the film zeroes in on a group of brave kids who are willing to cross the ocean to chase an opportunity — boys with a fierce determination to fight the label of “throw-away.”

Directed By: Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady
Executive Producer: The Independent Television Service P.O.V./American Documentary, Inc.
Funding provided by
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Editor: Enat Sidi
Cinematography: Marco Franzoni and Tony Hardmon
Original Score JJ McGeehan
Creative Consultant: Sam Pollard
Associate Producer: Jeremy Duhme
Sound Design: Margaret Crimmins

Best Independent/Foreign Film: NAACP Image Award 2006

Nominee: Independent Documentary Association (IDA) Award, 2005

Best Documentary Feature: 2005 Atlanta Film Festival

Best Documentary: The Chicago International Film Festival

Best Documentary Feature: 2005 Newport International Film Festiva^l

Audience Award: 2005 AFI Discovery/Silverdocs Film Festival

Audience Award: 2005 Woodstock Film Festival

Special Jury Prize: 2005 South by Southwest Film Festival

Official Selection: 2005 Edinburgh International Film Festival

Official Selection: 2005 Human Rights Watch Film Festival

“The Boys of Baraka” took over three years to make, and the experience had a profound effect on us as filmmakers as well as impacting our views of American society.

We had both made films about the disenfranchised; people living on the margins of society. But the kids that we met in Baltimore—and became very close to over the years—were impoverished on a level we hadn’t seen so intimately before.

Baltimore is a typical “rust belt” city, filled with seemingly endless blocks of ghettos, boarded up homes, discarded human beings. Some families are made up of 5th and 6th generations of abject poverty—and the result is extremely destructive, wasteful and ugly. When you grow to love someone who is personally suffering because of the family they were born into, you feel how truly unjust it really is.

The deeper understanding we gleaned about poverty was directly linked to our absolute shock at what the public education system fails to offer inner-city kids. Kids are taught from their first “institution” (i.e. the school system) what their roles are in American society. In a place where an African-American boy who graduates from high school is considered miraculous, ambition and dreams are squashed early on. They are taught that they are born losers, to aim as low as possible. The school system seems to be simply a reflection of what society has in store for them.

Yet, once removed from this grim environment, the kids seemed to flourish, to become the powerful young men they knew existed inside of them. It was incredible how quickly bad attitudes and tough exteriors dissipated in an atmosphere of positive reinforcement and encouragement. The kids learned to be competitive with their grades, to strive to please their teachers and themselves. They behaved like curious boys, hungry for knowledge, actively looking forward to their own futures. They allowed themselves to fantasize about careers as chemists, teachers and architects, instead of a life on the corner or on the stoop.

As documentary subjects, the kids illustrated grace and dignity. They confided their hopes and fears with complete openness and brutal honesty. They were funny, curious and tender. Despite coming from a bleak and seemingly hopeless world, the kids’ humanity shone through.

The experience of meeting these kids and making this film taught us to be more human and less judgmental. The kids would be shocked to know that they taught us much, and we’re eternally grateful to them for that. We hope they will touch audiences in the same profound way they touched us.

Heidi Ewing has produced and directed a wide variety of documentaries for both U.S. and European television networks. Her most recent directorial success was "Dissident,” a film about the struggle of Havana-based dissident and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Oswaldo Paya. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York and has received critical and industry praise. For Discovery Channel and Granada, Heidi produced and directed a film on the ancient origins of tribal and religious body modification, a documentary shot on location in Sri Lanka, Ethiopia and the Lakota Indian reservation. She also produced and directed a three-part series for that network on the criminal justice system in the Bronx, focusing on juveniles caught in the system. She is the co-founder of Loki Films.

A private investigator turned filmmaker, Rachel Grady has produced and directed a wide variety of documentaries for The Discovery Channel, the A & E Network and Britain's Channel 4. Previously, she focused on the erratic and complex New York criminal justice system for a special A&E series, "New York Justice." For that series, Rachel chronicled the lives of five overworked public defenders and also completed "Mad Justice," a verité documentary that looks at the troubling fate of mentally ill defendants and parolees. Additionally, Rachel produced "TX," an intense look at life inside drug rehabilitation. This eight part series (for VH1) follows ten young adults as they battle to get off alcohol, heroin, crack and pills. Rachel is the co-founder of Loki Films.

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Fourth Wednesday Free Film
7:00 PM
Free film, fun, conversation

Fourth Wednesdays Film Series — 7 pm  in the library meeting room.  Funded by the Friends of Greene County Library, these are award winning, first run, independent and foreign films from the top festivals, shown on the BIG SCREEN (in surround sound!). Come on out -- it's FREE and it's FUN. Join your friends, sip some coffee, watch a great film and join in a discussion afterwards. [These films have not been rated by the MPAA and should be assumed to have mature content.