Educational Media Reviews Online

I rarely get emotional when I watch a sports documentary. However, this amazing award winning, feature-length documentary is not your typical sports film. I’m still in awe. Wow, just wow. So much content and discoverable topics for discussion are infused within this inspirational story about South Sudanese refugee-to-national Olympic hero, runner and activist, Guor Mading Maker (née Guor Marial). One only needs to look at the proposed 16 subject headings on Bullfrog’s website to initiate dialogue for classroom instruction.

Born in 1984 during the second Sudanese civil war, a young Guor witnesses inhumane and unspeakable acts of horror and violence against his people. As a survival tactic, Guor’s parents, with little to no other options, encourage him to run and hide in the jungle to evade capture and torture. Unfortunately, he is soon captured by enemy soldiers with false promises of a better life. He finds a way to escape his captor and is back in survival mode for the next four years. He eventually arrives at a displacement camp where he reunites with aunts and uncles, sans his parents. Guor and his relatives are selected for the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and relocated to Concord, New Hampshire in 2001. Thus, at Concord High School, a non-English speaking Guar catches the eye of the gym coach. This interaction is the first phase of Guor’s athletic training in track and field albeit Guor lacking language skills and being in poor health with symptoms of malnutrition. He furthers his education and training at Iowa State thus allowing him to compete at the state level. For a person who starts track and field training late in life, his natural ability to run long distances qualifies him to compete at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympic games.

There are several positive and negative events which take place while Guor is preparing for state competitions and eventual Olympic training. He is instrumental to help create the first National Olympic Committee of Sudan, he is a hero to his people in South Sudan and inspires training programs, and he proudly becomes a citizen of an independent South Sudan in 2011. Conversely, he suffers from remorse guilt, mourns the massacre of his brother and numerous family members in Sudan, and becomes the focal point of an Olympic commission controversy. Still, Guor’s story is truly beyond belief. His journey from escaping the atrocities of war to eventually being reunited with his parents after 20 years, beating the odds for survival, becoming a national and international hero to later becoming a dentist in the United States Air Force speaks volumes to his human spirit, perseverance, resistance, and tenacity as both a son of South Sudan and an American citizen. I could go on and on and say positive things about Guor, but you get the picture.

I feel it’s important to add a side note to encourage people to conduct further research about Sudan and South Sudan. It has a rich history of invasions, ethnicities, and various religions culminating in Sunni Islam as the dominate religion. With the end of British colonialism in the 1950s, Sudan is further thrown into absolute chaos with various leaders from the different regional areas fighting for political and religious control of southern Sudan’s rich oil fields and resources. Sadly, even with its independence, South Sudan continues to be embroiled in civil wars and upheaval. This chaos must weigh heavy on Guor’s heart for he so loves his people and country.

The film includes black and white archival footage and animated recreations. Speakers include Jacob Lagu (activist), Eric Brown (gym teacher) and Pete Samuels (friend). I highly recommend this film for study in the following areas: African, Multicultural/Global, Civil War, Crimes against Humanity, History, Immigration, Politics, Psychology, Religion, Sociology, and more.

Awards:
Audience Award, Best of the Fest, Woods Hole Film Festival; Audience Award & Jury Award, Documentary Feature, Naples International Film Festival; Best Feature Film, Lone Star Film Festival; Best Documentary, Fairhope Film Festival; Best Human Spirit Film, Breckenridge Film Festival; Special Jury Commendation, Port Townsend Film Festival; Audience Award, Best New England Filmmaker, Newburyport Documentary Film Festival

Published and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Anyone can use these reviews, so long as they comply with the terms of the license.