To celebrate Refugee Week, the Refugee Council and ScreenStation present ‘Benjamin and his Brother‘, a film by Arthur Howes at a special screening on Tuesday 17 June at the Ritzy Cinema, Brixton, 7pm.
Years of war and ethnic conflict in the Sudan have created a generation of young men, known as the ‘lost boys’, who have spent more years in refugee camps than in their home communities.
This intimate film recounts the story of Benjamin and William Deng, brothers joined in the struggle of a seemingly never-ending exile, who are separated when one is accepted into a United States resettlement programme while the other remains in a Kenyan refugee camp.
Not only is it a film about the two brothers’ dreams and realities, it is also a film about war and suffering in their beloved South Sudan, lost childhood and innocence, the trials of life as a refugee in foreign lands and the existing realities of survival.
Real life in the so-called ‘land of dreams’, America, is not an easy adjustment.
Followed by a Q&A with the UK director Arthur Howes.
£7/£5 concs. Box Office 020 7733 2229 Tickets on sale now.
Benjamin and his Brother, Sudan/Kenya, U.S.A, 2002, 88mins colour.
PLUS
Post-film music session with DJ Misha (Siberia) and special guests Ritzy Cafe 9-12pm. Free.
Tickets on sale now. Book early to avoid disappointment. Call 020 7733 2229 (11am-8pm Monday – Saturday, 1pm – 8pm Sunday) for credit/debit card bookings.
ScreenStation is a projective collective programming films and special events with global cinema and sounds from outside the mainstream.
The Refugee Council has been working with and for refugees since 1951 and has existed in its current form since 1981 when two organisations merged. Its mission is to provide advice, support and information to asylum seekers and refugees and advocate on their behalf.
DJ Misha is a former Russian army sergeant who began his career playing the Dead Kennedys to comrades in T72 combat tanks. Presenter of the Tabyk Big Chill now working in Moscow and London.
Contact Andy Jones for further details on ScreenStation or images: 07960 393785
For further information from the Refugee Council, contact Jean Candler or Hannah Ward on 020 7820 3057.
Refugee Week runs from 16-22 June and is a nationwide series of events to celebrate the contribution of refugees to the UK and encourages people to take a positive look at the asylum issue in Britain.