The Boys of Baraka
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Rachel Grady
Rachel Grady
Richard Keyser
Tony Hardmon
| The Boys of Baraka | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Heidi Ewing Rachel Grady |
| Produced by | Heidi Ewing Rachel Grady |
| Starring | Devon Brown Richard Keyser |
| Cinematography | Marco Franzoni Tony Hardmon |
| Edited by | Enat Sidi |
| Music by | J.J. McGeehan |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | THINKFilm |
Release date |
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Running time | 84 min. |
| Language | English |
The Boys of Baraka is a 2005 documentary film produced and directed by filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady. The documentary follows twenty boys from Baltimore, Maryland who spend their seventh and eighth-grade years at a rural boarding school in northern Kenya.
It premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival in 2005, where it won the Special Jury Award for Documentary Feature. It was released theatrically in 2006 by ThinkFilm.[1] The film also won a Gold Hugo at the 2005 Chicago Film Festival for Best Documentary and an NAACP Image Award[2] for Outstanding Independent or Foreign Film. The film was shortlisted for the 2006 Academy Awards and nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Informational Programming.
The Boys of Baraka is a documentary film that sheds light on the harsh realities faced by African American boys in Baltimore. The film addresses African-American boys' alarmingly high rate of failure to graduate from high school in Baltimore, with many ending up in jail. These numbers reflect the challenges posed by drug dealers, addiction, and a public school system overwhelmed by chaos.
The documentary focuses on four young boys: Devon Brown, Montrey Moore, Richard Keyser Jr., and Richard's younger brother, Romesh Vance. These boys, aged 12 and 13, find themselves at a critical juncture in their lives. Living in the tough streets of Baltimore, they are confronted with choices that could determine their futures. Will they succumb to the allure of the drug trade, manage to continue their education against the odds, or become victims of violence?