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.

One of the great things about the credits at the end of a film is it lets you compose yourself (if it's a 'weepie') before the lights go on. At the end of the UK premiere of Boys of Baraka, the credits weren't long enough for many of the audience.

The Baraka project took a selected group of 12 to 13 year old boys from a very disadvantaged area of Baltimore and put them in a boarding school in Kenya for two years. In Baltimore, they had had very little future - often one or both parents in jail, no jobs to look forward to, most of the people they met criminals or drug dealers. Their only prospect was "the new jail that was being built." In Kenya they discovered a sense of themselves. They could just *be* 12 and 13 year old boys. No TV, no 24 hr electric, and 20 miles from the nearest town. They realise that native children their age are poorer, die more often, and have less advantages, but are happier, have a strong sense of community, and enjoy life more. When they return to Baltimore, the American children have found a different side of themselves - almost all those from the first intake subsequently graduate to High School.

But the film is not so much a traditional documentary of a successful school rescue project: it is an insight into the love and wonder within the most stereotypically wretched of children, the love and hopes their parents (even from prison) and the unfeigned emotion as they take stock of themselves and realise they can be something more than they previously expected of themselves. It tells of not giving up on someone, of having the skills, facilities and will to succeed.

A further challenge (or lesson from the movie, even if it's not mentioned) is for anyone who's ever spent any amount of time on their own in the outback, the desert or the wilderness and knows the value of having to face your own being with no modern distractions or fallbacks. It can be a powerful tool to self-development - not just for the disadvantaged youngster.

I saw this film at the SXSW 2005 film festival where it won the Special Jury prize and was the runner-up audience favorite. It's a powerful emotionally involving film that should reach a wide audience. The skill of the filmmakers is most evident as you say to yourself over and over, "how could they have gotten that on film? Don't these people see the camera watching them?" Beautifully shot with a tremendous amount of heart, it's the first documentary (non-Holocaust-related) I've seen that had grown men in the audience with tears in their eyes. It contains both hope and despair, and makes you feel strongly that this shouldn't be happening in the United States of America. As soon as you have the chance, go and see it.

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.

Why is this happening in America? Because not enough people care enough to change things. Why did these kids change in Africa? It was, as Bill Cosby said in his comments on the film, not because of the giraffes nor because the boys were too far away from the airport to run away. No, it was because they received more individual attention from adults who truly wanted them to succeed, and because of the school's structure and discipline. These are simple, basic things that are lacking in many urban public schools across America. But we did have them in American schools decades ago, and we could have them again -- this time without corporal punishment. If we cared enough, we would make all our schools like Baraka schools. If we cared enough, we would take the bull by the horns and break the cycle of inadequate education, drugs, crime, prison, death, and hopelessness. All our schools could provide structure and discipline, and could require real effort from the students while at the same time offering them care and support. These changes would not only increase the student's knowledge, skills, and abilities, they would foster greater self-discipline, self-confidence, and real hope that a better future is possible for them. And for far less money than we spend on war and our military, we could also have community centers to continue the job on weekends and evenings. If we really cared enough about our neglected urban poor it wouldn't be this way in America. BTW, it's an excellent documentary; I highly recommend it for anyone with both a heart and a mind, especially those who are comfortable and apathetic.

These brave and appealing children leave the only world they know to reinvent themselves with only their own shaky courage to remind them of their life back in the rough streets of Baltimore. The heart and soul each of the young characters brings to their life-changing adventure is breathtaking. Each Baraka boy knocked me out by his charm, tenacity and strength. The film introduced me to adolescents I would never have known and now will remember forever. I'll root for the success of each of these troubled boys and their dysfunctional but loving families. Audiences must see the triumphs of spiritual Devon, charismatic Richard, sweet Romesh and smart, hardheaded Montrey.

I had the pleasure of seeing this moving documentary at the Film Forum in NYC this evening followed by a question and answer sessions by the filmmakers. The movie depicts how a change of environment, and by having those around them truly believe in their education, teenagers can be stimulated into believing in themselves. Personally, I would hope that every inner city junior high school and high school should offer the chance for their students to view this film. Unlike "Born into Brothels" which was narrated and told primarily from the filmmaker's point of view, Boys of Baraka is narrated and told by the boys themselves, and that makes it a really strong picture. We get to know these boys, Tre, Richard, Devon, and the others and see a future for them. In the question and answer session, the filmmakers were able to address several questions that are left hanging in the movie such as What happened to Richard? (He's about to enter Job Corp) What happened to the school building? (It remains in Baraka, abandoned).Are similar schools planned elsewhere? (Yes, in Baltimore) but personally I believe that the environment, the lizards, the hedgehogs, the elephants all have a lot to do with the positive impact of the Baraka education and that can't be replicated in Baltimore. I've personally seen how environment can change a person. Each year, I take a select few of the troubled teenagers that I counsel up to a dude ranch in upper NY State for a day. It's amazing watching a tough thug gang member cradling a Belgian Hare in his arms. This movie is a real gem. And a big "thank you" to Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady for taking time to discuss the movie and the program.

"Boys of Baraka" is about an educational program abroad in Kenya especially created to serve a select group of inner city, black middle school boys from Baltimore. Twenty boys are selected each year at the end of 6th grade, and the two-year program spans 7th and 8th grades. The aim is to prepare these kids to graduate from high school, something that 75% of their peers at home do not achieve.

In this film, we meet 4 boys who have been selected for the next two-year cohort and follow them to Kenya, observing their experiences throughout their first year (7th grade) in the Baraka School. (The school buildings were funded by a Baltimore-based private foundation, which also partners with the Baltimore city school system to provide the teachers - almost all are whites from the U.S.- and costs for the kids.

Footage of the boys is endearing. Positive changes in behavior, language skills and all around academic performance are impressive for two boys in particular. The star is Devon Brown, age 12, who can do a charismatic preacher routine to a tee. He's a master showman. There are good glimpses of teachers and counselors at work, displaying their methods and group and individual supportive counseling skills. In addition to learning some Swahili, English language skills are taught. It's interesting to see the kids become able to move beyond Ebonics. An especially difficult trouble maker was turned entirely around, coming back to Baltimore to make the honor roll.

Cinematic production values are excellent all around. The music is sensational, provided in part by an African superstar, the Malian Kora player and singer, Toumani Diabate. Kudos to the directors for providing subtitles for the boys' dialogue. (Ken Loach is the only other director I can think of who does this courtesy when actors speak in undecipherable accents.)

This film would have rated higher but unfortunately the program was suspended because of unrest in Kenya, so the 4 boys whose experience we follow in the film could only complete 7th grade at the Baraka School and could not return the following year, and thus the arc of the intended film project was interrupted. My grade: B 7/10

Though some questions were left unanswered, this film successfully conveyed a vivid depiction of the struggles faced by young black males in the Baltimore area. As a native Detroiter, I made many connections to the issues facing youth there as well: I worked in Detroit public schools teaching dozens of 8th graders who were reading at a second grade level. What the Baltimore youth are facing is occurring all over our country. The underlying theme here is how the public school systems in inner cities have woefully disadvantaged entire GENERATIONS of black boys and girls. The film has great potential for building awareness, if not for those who are able to create educational systemic changes, at least for the youth who just need someone to believe in them for once.

The protagonists of Boys of Baraka, four 12-year-olds, had no idea they were supposed to be statistical data on the debilitating effects of poverty. Richard, Romesh, Montrey and Devon are instead each fully dimensional. One draws you in by his pre-teen bravado, another awakens your imagination by his sly irony, a third lifts your heart by his sweet astonishment at his own potential and the 4th boy makes you laugh by his determination to find his own pulpit. Only after you have fallen in love with each child and the man he could become, do you remember the mortal blow that awaits each of them as the relentless poverty that defines their world catches up. Essential viewing for educators, policymakers and parents

This documentary is an amazing story filled with enough laughs and tears to keep you going for a month. I recommend seeing it if you haven't already. The struggle that the boys, the families and the filmmakers experienced in the making of this film is breathtaking. The time and energy that Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing dedicated to this brilliant work leaves you with the feeling that you went through each step of the project with them. When I heard that The Boys of Baraka was going to be in theaters I sighed and smiled. I think every family in America will benefit from seeing how a small gesture of faith can transform a child who is considered beyond help into a young man ready for anything the world can dish out to him; or how a unnoticed stroke of a pen can take away the dreams of a person who is ready to go after them. This is a truly American movie, delivered with a global eye, that will inspire you to feel.

Good documentary filmmakers stick to their subjects when things turn out differently. The essence of documentary "reality" is that it's unpredictable and complicated. Documentarians follow their subjects wherever they go, and report truthfully.

"The Boys of Baraka" has some of the weaknesses – and the strengths – of Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman's 2004 "Born into Brothels," the recent documentary about Calcutta children that is also about an experiment to salvage the lives of severely disadvantaged kids. Again, vivid and articulate kids are involved and the film belongs to them. "Baraka" brims over with charm and humor and will probably bring some tears. It's one of the best recent depictions of African-American life on film. As with "Born into Brothels," lots of questions aren't answered for the audience.

We don't know, for instance, how the Baraka School in Kenya got started or who the people are who run it. For seven years, we learn, it has recruited and handpicked twenty Baltimore ghetto boys to travel to Africa and spend two years learning the three R's becoming academically motivated, finding out how to pull together, to stop acting out the pain of their violent Baltimore neighborhoods and broken families – a world depicted in Charles S. Dutton's graphic HBO mini-series "The Corner," shot on location in Baltimore's mean little streets.

The film focuses only on a handful of the boys. It's great, though, at following their relationships with their families by phone and video. When a phone call happens, you get to see the people at both ends, Baltimore and Kenya. It's great on the interactions in the families, the hopes and fears. Once the boys get to Kenya, the film shows staff conflict resolution processes. Romesh, the younger of two brothers in the school, is so unhappy he packs up and drags his gear outside ready to go – but he realizes he's out in the middle of nowhere and no airport van is coming. In Kenya the boys, excited, scared, lost, or still angry, are suddenly also free for once just to be boys, to wonder at clouds and play with lizards. We glimpse some of their classes. We see that some of the disciplinary problems go on, but they're individually, carefully, and gently dealt with, every time. Some of the boys learn to their surprise that they're smart. A boy of 12 who tests at the second grade reading level writes a poem about himself and reads it to the group.

After rough starts by year's end there's been dramatic progress. Most of all the boys have come to see Baraka as their future and motivation and hope. Despite bouts of loneliness and homesickness they live to say this is a wonderful place. All the more tragic, then, when politics forces the school to close down so that after a two-month "vacation" (more like a refresher course in why they wanted to leave) they learn their idyll is over and they're back in the lousy local public school system. Why can't the school set up a program to continue with them in Baltimore? No answer is given.

Ewing and Grady stay with the boys long enough after that to show several of them who do well (Devon is a class president and a budding sanctified preacher; Montrey, a disciplinary nightmare before, is outstanding in math and gets into the best public high school in Baltimore City) and some who seem headed for that orange suit or brown box the Baraka recruiter warned of in the film's first few minutes as two out of their three options in life (the other's a cap and gown).

This is the cautious message of "The Boys of Baraka" (not unlike that of "Born into Brothels"): when special measures are taken, there's hope for poor kids from the worst urban environments to become something. But it only happens sometimes, and it isn't easy. Though we learn at the outset that 76% of Baltimore black males do not graduate from high school today, we don't learn in detail what happens to this group who go to Baraka – only that a majority of their predecessors did well academically afterward. Exactly how many did the Baraka School redirect to academic success this time, and in its earlier period when their students got to stay the whole two years?

We don't know the answer to that one, but this movie – through its African American youths and their families – is amazingly touching, articulate and funny. One may walk out sad, but one can't walk out hopeless. The filmmakers may have left some gaps, but they have nonetheless provided us with a moving and vivid story.

(Theatrical premiere at Film Forum, New York, December 2005.)

I was all jazzed up at the idea of seeing a movie about a school in Kenya that introduces African-American inner city boys to a culture different from their own and gives them a whole new perspective on being a black male. Unfortunately, there is very little if anything like that in this movie. The boys go to Kenya, get some strict but nurturing tutoring (by white women and men), see wild animals, and climb Mount Kenya. That's it. If what we see is really all they experienced then I don't know why anyone schlepped them to Africa: a camp in the Pocanos with a trip to the zoo would have sufficed. There is one very brief scene where the kids talk about some of their impressions of the way people in Kenya live ("no chicken strips!"), but we never see them interact with any people other than their white American counselors, and ... one particular Sunday at an African church service in town (preachers screaming about sin, sigh!). I think some really good things did happen to these kids at The Baraka School, but the film documents nothing but badly edited soundbites to give us any hint. Even the impact of living in a rural area at a leisurely pace isn't really reflected on. We see it and can feel it, but the boys seem relatively unaffected by it even though I know it must have had a deep effect on them. I want to praise this film for being about an important subject but alas, I can only think of it as a wasted opportunity. A good documentary on the subject could have created a lasting impact on other youths who might have experienced something wildly different and exciting and been inspired by it. At the end of the day, this is just another look at the vicious cycle of ghetto life that will be nothing new for anyone who hasn't had their head in the sand. It will rightly make all of us liberals angry that there can't be thousands of 'Baraka Schools' in the US, but there are countless documentaries on that subject (see "OT: Our Town" and "Rize"). This was a missed opportunity to make a film for the kids in these communities themselves to see how much else is out there in the world.

This documentary had potential to be really great. Instead, it comes across and incomplete and mediocre. The story focuses on four of the boys who go to the school in Africa. Not much is shared with the viewer about the school. It'd have been nice to know who the counselors were, why they were there and some more information about the school. More history about the four boys chosen would have been good too. The documentary follows the boys for over a year, but it the documentary is just over an hour and a half. Such a long time is covered a in a very short time. The documentary provides little information about the challenges the boys face as well. It left me wanting to know more and this is something a documentary should not do.

This is a roughly made documentary that could have used some narration and more context to help guide viewers along. As other reviews have stated, we aren't given a clear picture of what is actually going on at the school to make it so special. There is little interaction with real Africans, they see some wildlife... and...? The deleted scenes on the DVD showed the kids misbehaving, further undermining the idea that some great transformation is taking place. A few kids do make a positive change which is good, but their "updates" on the DVD have even the smarter kids wishing to pursue careers as actors and entertainers well into their late teens.

Bill Cosby provides the most interesting commentary in the bonus features of the DVD. The editors decide to do a complete hack job on the interview rendering what seemed like a very interesting and candid conversation about race into a nearly unintelligible string of sound bites meant to promote the film and the school.

The treatment given to the Cosby interview is a small example of the job done on the entire documentary. The filmmakers are able to exploit a few emotional moments out of the families but ultimately the whole thing feels disorganized and sloppy.

I believe that this movie was amazing in every way. It shows us the real struggles that young African American boys go through when they are growing up in hard neighborhoods like Baltimore. Most go through life everyday not caring because they think there life will bring them nothing. This film shows us that there also people out there that really care about this children (like the teachers of Baraka) they want to make a difference in there life's. Most of the boys of Baraka didn't even think they would graduate. It's funny to think people have the mind set that they will not graduate high school so why care. Some of the boys of Baraka had a chance though. After attending the school of Baraka for only one year a couple of the boys changed there lives for the better, one was president of there class and another went to the top public high school in Baltimore. Those boys know what they want and they might not have had that chance if it wasn't for the school of Baraka. They were lucky to have people that cared to make a difference in there lives. That is why The Boys of Baraka is such a incredible film.

This movie was beyond exceptional. It is very informative on how other cultures and places in the U.S. live. It shows us the everyday life of some people who are less fortunate than we are. This movie shows what these people have to go through everyday and how they can be helped if they are willing to change. Seeing the lives that some of those boys had to deal with was heartbreaking, and it was very encouraging to see them all transform. I enjoyed seeing all of the boys in Africa and how they bettered themselves everyday and stuck with it even when they didn't think they could deal. I really enjoyed being able to watch this movie and seeing how all of the kids turned out after attending this school. The only part i did not care for was the ending because it kind of left us hanging.

The Boys of Baraka is an interesting film. It is about boys who are from Baltimore and got to attend a school for boys in Kenya in which they go for two years and live their for nine months at a time. Where they live in Kenya allows them to be safe and off the dangerous streets of Baltimore. In Kenya they can go out and be normal kids and play and be safe without having to worry. They are away from home which may relieve some of their stress in which they may have. The school in Kenya is a way to help transform their lives. By going to Kenya it will help keep them out of trouble and it will help keep them out of jail in the future. Every single kid going to Kenya was dropped of at the airport by their mothers and no fathers where to be seen. The affect of having no father figure in their lives will probably increase the chances of the kids getting into trouble. All the kids attending this school are only twelve and all have been suspended from school at least once if not more. The school in Kenya is place in which it is going to help them out in the future and it will help them graduate. The school is beneficial for them. The movie is great and shows the lives of the boys and their problems and how the school in Kenya is slowly changing their lives.

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.

Boys of Baraka was an amazing movie fallowing four young African boys through there schooling. It really show how inner city community has given up on the kids they run amok in school and out of school most of their parents are no where to be found some in jail some crack addicts. Simply by teaching them morals and how to be a real child the Baraka school drastically changed some of these boys. Unfortunately as exposed the truth of the world is we are not safe even if we travel to far away countries as the Baraka school was shut down due to terrorist. Yet again our society has created such a dangerous atmosphere they just give up on the children. Some of the children however took the messages and morals to heart and continued on the path to success, as one of them scored the highest in math in the whole state of Maryland.

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.

This movie was both sad and inspirational. What made it sad was that it gives viewers a feel for what it is like to live in the ghetto. It shows how it is nearly impossible to escape. There is a constant cycle that keeps people from ghetto families in the ghetto. if your a man, you may have kids and will most likely end up in prison. If your a woman, you will most likely end up as a single mother unable to provide proper care for their children. The only chance of hope is to strive in school which is difficult with the poor schooling systems available for the lower class. The movie was inspirational because of the kids' attitudes. Though they are almost destined to end up where they started (the ghetto), they still kept their heads high, and their goals alive. They had a dream to become something, and by being chosen to attend the school in Kenya, they were one step closer to achieving their goal.

I believe that this movie helps bring to view the real struggles that young African American boys go through when they are growing up in hard neighborhoods like Baltimore. Most of them thought that there was nothing that they could do to make their lives better then what they were at that moment. Most of the boys, and their parents, thought that the boys would not even make it to their high school graduation. The Baraka School helped these boys realize that there is more to them then boys who will drop out and end up in prison. The Baraka School showed the boys how to work together and make something of themselves. When it was stopped all the boys knew that in order to make their lives the best they would have to talk what they learned from the school and apply it to their original public schools. Some of the boys didn't get to live out their dreams of becoming more then just a statistic and they ended up doing poorly in school and only living the easiest why they could. But boys like Devon and Montrey used what they learned from their one year at the Baraka School and made their lives the best by doing well in school and becoming the first people in their families to make something of themselves. The movie takes the viewer and shows them the lives of these boys by touching the heart and showing you exactly how the boys live. It is an excellent movie and should be watched by everyone.

The Boys of Baraka was basically a big cry for help for these boys in Baltimore. It displayed their everyday struggles from school to just being able to be a kid. These boys are growing up around violence and drugs and if something didn't take place to help guide them down a path were they were not exposed to these lifestyles then sooner or later when they got older they would start roaming the streets and most likely wind up in prison. There was hope for a select number of boys who were chosen to attend a school of higher education in Africa. After only a year unfortunately the school got closed down due to terrorists threats in Africa. Now the boys had no choice but to go back to the school in which there was no future for them. I believe this film was made to show us how badly these boys have it and if things don't change soon for these kids they will just be another person forced to be on the street selling because they have no other way to get by.

One of my class mates was fortunate enough to attend the Baraka school in Africa. His name, (which appears incorrectly on IMDb) is Davon Randolph, and he currently attends a private school in the Baltimore area. He spoke about his experience at the school, and later showed the film to our entire upper school. It was tragic, but at the same time uplifting. It shows not how poor our city is, but how incredible our citizens are.

The film is a documentary about the life of a Baltimore kid. It's little more. It is terrible that such is the life of many of the youth in this city. However, it opens the door, so to say, for those who are not familiar with the situation in so many of our large cities. I can only hope that this documentary helps introduce us (And by us, I include myself. I was completely unaware of the horrors Baltimore youth faced.) to the potential of 'kids'.