Come Back to Sudan

Come Back to Sudan. Coming home is an emotional journey for everyone. But for Lado Jurkin and his fellow Sudanese refugees, it's the journey of their lives. With the signing of peace accords between the North and South Sudanese governments in 2005, now is the time for the country's first peace in two decades, and it's the first real chance at building a future. For Lado, Mabi and Deng, who haven't seen their villages since they were 8 years old, now is also the time to reunite with their long lost families and to know the country they left behind. For their adoptive American mother, whom they call 'Momma Jean,' now is the time to see Africa for the first time, and to see how she can help. Now is the time to Come Back to Sudan.

Memories of cattle camps, family, village life and tribal traditions are clouded by many years of dramatic personal life experience. The refugees are from Sudan, but are they really any longer of Sudan? Can these young men ever really go home again? Is the Sudan of the imagination truly attainable after so many years of war, separation and the comforts of 21st century American life? For Jean, her idyllic picture of Africa is challenged, as is her optimism for changing the country for good. And for the boys, along with the sweetness of reunion comes the guilt of having abandoned loved ones so long ago.

Come Back to Sudan is a behind-the-headlines portrait of South Sudan today, an impoverished country clinging precariously to its fragile peace.

Credits

Directors: Daniel Junge, Patti Bonet
Producers: Henry Ansbacher, Patti Bonet, Daniel Junge
Executive Producer: Henry Ansbacher
Cinematographer: Daniel Junge
Editor: Davis Coombe
Composer: Gunnard Doboze
Running Time: 27 min.
Website: www.just-media.org

About The Filmmakers

DANIEL JUNGE is an Academy Award-nominated documentary filmmaker, whose work has an emphasis on social justice issues. His feature debut, Chiefs, won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature at the Tribeca Film Festival and aired on PBS' Independent Lens series. Junge's second feature, Iron Ladies of Liberia, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and aired on over 50 broadcast channels worldwide, including PBS and the BBC. Junge's most recent feature, They Killed Sister Dorothy, won the Jury and Audience Awards at South by Southwest and was short-listed for an Academy Award before airing on HBO. Junge has also earned four regional Emmys for his television work in Colorado. Most recently, Junge's The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner was nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject and is due to air on HBO.

PATTI BONNET is a freelance filmmaker who began her career at PBS' MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour in the Washington and Western bureaus. She has also worked in Washington, DC for the ABC News program This Week with David Brinkley and Time-Life Television's Lost Civilizations, which won a national Emmy for Best Informational Series. Bonnet's experience includes work as a production manager for the Telluride Film Festival, location specialist for the Colorado Film Commission, producer for KRON-TV in San Francisco, and coordinating producer for HDNet's World Report series. She has a bachelor of science degree in journalism from the University of Colorado, and a master's degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

Awards

Aspen ShortsFest: Audience Favorite