The Boys of Baraka

I saw the world premiere of this documentary at SXSW 2005 and it was definitely the best of it's kind in the festival. There are several points in the film when you have to beg yourself not to cry. It's a beautiful film that makes you forget about the American lifestyle and realize that there are more important things. You can't help but feel sympathetic toward the boys in the film, all they've seen in their life is blood, drugs and tears. Their stay in Africa allows you to see how these boys change from violent boys to strong men. And they are so adventurous and funny that you feel you're with them the whole ride. I hope this movie get's the distribution it deserves. It certainly shows how troubled young people have a chance to change, against all odds.

This was my favorite movie of the SWSX Film Festival in Austin. A great story, and beautifully done. Engaging, uplifting, and emotionally draining. This is about a group of Baltimore inner-city, at-risk, African-American boys selected to be sent to a private school in Kenya, and the way they changed in a year. The boys and their families who were selected to be featured in the documentary were captivating. One of the boy's father was in jail and it showed a visit by the boy to his father before he left for Africa and their interaction. The boys were originally supposed to stay for two years but this was cut short by a sad fate of the school. I was surprised at how much I was drawn into the story and the outcome of the experiment. And it is beautifully filmed. I highly recommend this movie.

"Boys of Baraka" is a welcome antidote to the kind of "educratic" nonsense about child-centered education I see all the time as a public school teacher in Los Angeles.

The lessons are that any motivated child can learn if enough attention can be paid, and if destructive influences can be kept at bay. The teaching methods shown in the film are old-fashioned, the students are black, and the teachers are white, and education and growth happens.

This film should be mandatory viewing for all Superintendents, School Board Members, School Administrators and teachers of inner city African-American students.

I saw this film in school with my class and it first i though it was going to be dumb or boring. but after a while you start to have sympathy for these boys and wish for things to change in their lives so that they can live through their childhood with out being shot on the street corner. i think it was a great opportunity for these troubled few boys to get a chance to get the special attention they needed to get a small step ahead in their school work while simultaneously learning how to live with one another without fighting and jut be civil with one another and act like the 11 year old boys they are. it sucks that the school was shut down and the boys couldn't return for their last year which it seemed all of which were looking forward to. i think because of this most of the boys quickly adapted back to the Baltimore way of life that they were use to because once again they were let down with false promises of help and reward. i think that they were all good students without all the distraction and worry of city life and in Africa they could just be themselves and focus on their work more easily.

I must say that i really did enjoy this film. It showed me that not everyone has a perfect life and the kids that lived in the city of Baltimore didn't have it easy. This was a powerful and emotion fill that hit everyones hearts while watching it. The boys and families that were involved in this tremendous adaption of the boys going to a school in Africa had made a huge sacrifice and was hoping that a change would occur inside and outside of the boys. Even though some of the kids didn't have the most stable living areas with their parents involved they gave it to the best of their ability and never gave up. Some kids occasionally wanted to leave but their friends were able to talk them through it and they stuck it out 100 percent. This film is a success because it shows that hardships that everyone has, it doesn't leave out any details it just shows the truth. You cant help but feel sympathetic for the kids and the families that they go through each and every day. By the kids living in Africa it shows the improvement and change from the boys converting into men. The children were very brave and were a success in the downfall of it all.