''Facing Sudan'' is a

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

released in 2007. It chronicles the situation in

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

from independence in 1956 through civil war and the current crisis in

Darfur Darfur ( ; ar, دار فور, Dār Fūr, lit=Realm of the Fur) is a region of western Sudan. ''Dār'' is an Arabic word meaning "home f – the region was named Dardaju ( ar, دار داجو, Dār Dājū, links=no) while ruled by the Daju, ...

. The narrative of Sudan is told through the eyes of activists from various segments of American society. Brian Burns—a young custodian who traveled to South Sudan to effect change there—supplies the arc in the film and links the various stories together. The film's tagline is "Ordinary people can do extraordinary things, even in Sudan." The film premiered in March 2007 at the Longbaugh Film Festival in Portland, Oregon. It subsequently screened at fourteen film festivals and won "Best Documentary" awards at the

Landlocked Film Festival Landlocked Film Festival is an annual film festival hosted in Iowa City, Iowa. The Festival was founded in 2007. Landlocked Film Festival was created to support independent filmmaking by bringing the best of independent world cinema to the America ...

and the Illinois International Film Festival. The film was produced, directed, and edited by

Bruce David Janu Bruce David Janu (born 12 July 1968) is an educator and low budget Illinois filmmaker. He teaches social studies at Elk Grove High School in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. Janu also makes educational materials and films. In 2000, he created an edu ...

. The soundtrack was composed by

Tom Flannery Tom Flannery (born July 12, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter and playwright from Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States. AllMusic has called him "one of the most gifted songwriters to emerge at the turn of the century." Career After three cr ...

and Lorne Clarke. The film was released on DVD on January 8, 2008. A follow-up to ''Facing Sudan'' was completed in July, 2008. This short documentary, Crayons, and Paper, tells the story of Dr. Jerry Ehrlich, a pediatrician who has administered to children in conflict zones worldwide''

Crayons and Paper ''Crayons and Paper'' is a documentary short, featuring Dr. Jerry Ehrlich, a pediatrician who has worked with Doctors Without Borders. To document the effect of war on children, Dr. Ehrlich has the children draw pictures of their lives. The film fe ...

'', tells the story of Dr. Jerry Ehrlich, a pediatrician who has administered to children in conflict zones across the world. The film exhibits drawings from children in Sri Lanka and Darfur. Like ''Facing Sudan'', the documentary features an original soundtrack by Flannery and Clarke.

External links

Official Website

IMDB Profile

Song Writers' Website

MySpace page with trailer

Facing Sudan on Facebook
2007 films American documentary films Documentary films about the War in Darfur 2000s English-language films 2000s American films {{hist-documentary-film-stub