Director Christopher Dillon Quinn follows three lost boys from Kenya’s Kakuma refugee camp where they remained stagnant for 10 years to the United States in this honest documentary. John Dau, Daniel and Panther were separated from their families in the 1980s. They walked a thousand miles to escape udan after war broke out. They arrived in Ethiopia but had to walk again to Kenya when turmoil struck Ethiopia too. The Lost Boys walked for five years in search of safety and thousands died along the way.

In 2001, 3,600 lost boys, including John, Daniel and Panther were invited by the United States to live in America. John Dau ends up in Syracuse, New York and Daniel and Panther in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They find the food is this new land very strange and suddenly have to cope with working around the clock and finding their way through their new cities. Because John, Panther and Daniel developed powerful bonds with the other boys that they walked with and lived with for so long, they find their new life, although exciting, very lonesome. They learn to navigate their way through this new land where everyone is in a hurry and no one stops to say hello. John Dau especially worries about young Sudanese men in the United States who prefer the sagging jeans and flashy cars to their culture.They dedicate themselves to doing whatever they can to help those they left behind in Kakuma and to discovering the fate of their parents and family. As soon as they are able, the men find jobs and send money back to their ‘brothers” at camp who they never forget. At times they feel overwhelmed by how much is asked of them but they know it is their duty to help out. John Dau finds his mother who he eventually reunites with after 17 long years.

There are moments in the documentary that are upsetting. The police are called by a store owner because he is afraid of Sudanese men when they enter his store in a group. It is obvious that the Sudanese men mean no harm and that they are simply accustomed to doing things together.

John Dau knows his purpose is greater than just being in the United States. He becomes the spokesman for the group and organizes rallies to educate Americans about his home. He used his celebrity to start the John Dau Sudan Foundation which is focused on bringing healthcare, education and literacy to southern Sudan.

Oscar award winner Nicole Kidman narrates the documentary.

Left to Right: John Dau, Angelina Jolie, Panther, and Daniel at the Premiere.