God Grew Tired of Us | |
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Directed by | Christopher Dillon Quinn |
Produced by | Molly Bradford Pace Christopher Dillon Quinn Tom Walker |
Starring | John Dau Nicole Kidman Daniel Abul Pach Panther Bior |
Cinematography | Bunt Young |
Edited by | Johanna Giebelhaus Geoffrey Richman |
Music by | Gary Calamar Jamie Saft |
Production companies | Silver Nitrate National Geographic Films |
Distributed by | Newmarket Films |
Release date |
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Running time | 86 minutes |
Language | English |
God Grew Tired of Us is a 2006 American documentary film about three of the "Lost Boys of Sudan", a group of some 25,000 young men who have fled the wars in Sudan since the 1980s, and their experiences as they move to the United States. The film was written and directed by Christopher Dillon Quinn.
God Grew Tired of Us chronicles the arduous journey of three Southern Sudanese men, John Bul Dau, Daniel Pach and Panther Bior, to the United States where they strive for a brighter future. As young boys in the 1980s, they had walked a thousand miles to escape their war-ridden homeland, and then had to make another arduous journey to escape Ethiopia.
During the five years they walked in search of safety, thousands died from starvation, dehydration, bomb raids and genocidal murder. Finally, they found relative safety in Kenya’s Kakuma refugee camp. In 2001, 3,600 lost boys, including John, Daniel and Panther, were invited by the United States to live in America. Assisted by Catholic Charities International, the three boys uproot their lives and once again embark on a journey, leaving behind thousands of other refugees who, in the course of their traumatic odyssey, have become their adopted extended family. They must now learn to adapt to the shock of being thrust into the economically intense culture of the United States. They dedicate themselves to doing whatever they can do to help those they left behind in Kakuma, and to discover the fate of their parents and family.
The title comes from a statement by John, in expressing that he thought the suffering and killings he saw during his country's civil war may have been the final judgment on the earth spoken of in the Bible, because "God was tired of us," "tired of the bad things the people were doing."
God Grew Tired of Us was produced, written and directed by Christopher Dillon Quinn and narrated by Nicole Kidman; the executive producer was Brad Pitt. The title of the documentary is a quote from John Dau discussing the despair he and other Sudanese felt during the civil war. [1]
At the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, the film won both the "Grand Jury Prize: Documentary" and the "Audience Award" in the "Independent Film Competition: Documentary" category.
The film also won best documentary at the Deauville Film Festival in France and the Galway Film Festival in Ireland.
Christopher Dillon Quinn was awarded The Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award by the International Documentary Association in 2007 for directing God Grew Tired of Us.
Francis Piol Bol Bok, a Dinka tribesman and citizen of South Sudan, was a slave for ten years and later became an abolitionist and author living in the United States.
The Dinka people are a Nilotic ethnic group native to South Sudan. The Dinka mostly live along the Nile, from Mangalla-Bor to Renk, in the region of Bahr el Ghazal, Upper Nile, and the Abyei Area of the Ngok Dinka in South Sudan.
Lost Boys of Sudan is a documentary film by Megan Mylan and Jon Shenk about two Dinka boys from Sudan, Santino Majok Chuor and Peter Nyarol Dut, who reached the United States after fleeing the civil war in their country. "Orphaned as young boys" in the Second Sudanese Civil War they "survived lion attacks and militia gunfire to reach a refugee camp in Kenya along with thousands of other children."
Kakuma is a town in northwestern Turkana County, Kenya. It is the site of a UNHCR refugee camp, established in 1992. The population of Kakuma town was 60,000 in 2014, having grown from around 8,000 in 1990. In 1991, the camp was established to host unaccompanied minors who had fled the war in Sudan, Somalia and from camps in Ethiopia. It was estimated that there were 12,000 "lost boys and girls" who had fled here via Egypt in 1990/91.
The Second Sudanese Civil War was a conflict from 1983 to 2005 between the central Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army. It was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War of 1955 to 1972. Although it originated in southern Sudan, the civil war spread to the Nuba mountains and the Blue Nile. It lasted for almost 22 years and is one of the longest civil wars on record. The war resulted in the independence of South Sudan 6 years after the war ended.
The Lost Boys of Sudan refers to a group of over 20,000 boys of the Nuer and Dinka ethnic groups who were displaced or orphaned during the Second Sudanese Civil War (1987–2005). Two million were killed and others were severely affected by the conflict. The term was used by healthcare workers in the refugee camps and may have been derived from the children's story of Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie. The term was also extended to refer to children who fled the post-independence violence in South Sudan in 2011–2013.
What Is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng is a 2006 novel written by Dave Eggers. It is based on the life of Valentino Achak Deng, a Sudanese child refugee who immigrated to the United States under the Lost Boys of Sudan program. It was a finalist for the National Book Award.
John Dau, also known as Dhieu-Deng Leek is a human rights activist from South Sudan. He is one of the Lost Boys of Sudan who was featured in the 2006 award-winning documentary God Grew Tired of Us. In 2007, he founded the John Dau Foundation aiming to transform the health system in South Sudan.
Sudan Sunrise, Inc. is an American nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization based out of Fairfax, Virginia. According to their mission statement, Sudan Sunrise strives for grassroots reconciliation, education and community building in order to lift up examples of peace and forgiveness between former enemies as alternatives to the history of violence in Sudan and South Sudan. Sudan Sunrise also facilitates local efforts in Southern Sudan to provide education, health care and community development.
Lopez Lomong is a South Sudanese-born American track and field athlete. Lomong, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, came to the United States at the age of 16 and became a U.S. citizen in 2007.
The John Dau Foundation, also known as John Dau Sudan Foundation, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that was established in July 2005 to develop health facilities that currently do not exist for most of the populations of Duk, Twic East and Bor South Counties in the State of Jonglei in South Sudan. Its mission is to "transform healthcare in South Sudan." Currently, the organization's primary focus is on funding and overseeing the Duk Lost Boys Clinic. The Duk Lost Boys Clinic specializes in the treatment of diseases such as guinea worm disease, malaria, chicken pox, diarrhea, malnourishment, bilharzias, h-worm, kalazar; the immunization of other diseases; and the provision of maternity services. The foundation was originally headquartered in Syracuse, New York.
Aheu Deng Kudum is a South Sudanese-Ethiopian fashion model and beauty pageant titleholder. She won the title of Miss Earth South Sudan 2009 at the annual beauty pageant, organized by South Sudan's Ministry of Tourism and Beauties of Africa Inc, the exclusive franchise holder.
Christopher Dillon Quinn, also known as Christopher Quinn, is an American film director, writer, and producer. He was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in neighboring Alexandria, Virginia. He studied Film and Visual Anthropology at the Anthropology Film Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Panther Garang Bior is one of the 27,000 Lost Boys of Sudan. His journey was featured in the National Geographic Society's 2006 award-winning documentary, God Grew Tired of Us.
Ger Duany is a South Sudanese and US-American movie actor and former refugee born in southern Sudan, who was resettled to the United States at the age of 15.
Nuba Conversations is a 2000 documentary and ethnographic film directed by Arthur Howes.
The Good Lie is a 2014 American drama film written by Margaret Nagle and directed by Philippe Falardeau. The film stars Reese Witherspoon in the lead role, alingside Arnold Oceng, Ger Duany, Emmanuel Jal, and Corey Stoll.
South Sudanese Americans are an ethnic group of Americans of South Sudanese ancestry, or South Sudanese people who have American citizenship. South Sudanese Americans can include American descendants to South Sudanese ancestors or South Sudanese immigrants who obtained an American citizenship.
Daniel Danis is a South Sudanese film director and radio host.
Akuch Kuol Anyieth is a South Sudanese-Australian academic and writer.