June22nd: God Grew Tired of Us

On Friday, June 22nd at 7:00pm, WFF and Images Cinema will jointly present a one-night-only screening of GOD GREW TIRED OF US, the superb documentary which won both the Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.

It follows the odyssey of three of the "Lost Boys" of Sudan as they escape the genocide and refugee camps of East Africa for a radically different life in a strange new world... America. Haunting and funny, heartbreaking and exalting, GOD GREW is an unforgettable experience.
 
More than four years in the making, the film focuses on John Bul Dau, Daniel Abol Pach, Panther Blor. Orphaned by civil war, they try to find their way and preserve their humanity in a strange culture stratospheres away from the Dinka heritage of their native land. The struggles of the "Lost Boys" are mirrored in the saga of the film about them, which at one point was out of funds and in danger of being abandoned. Then Nicole Kidman and Brad Pitt both saw a rough cut and volunteered their support - Kidman as narrator, Pitt as producer. Their participation provided the jolt needed for director Christopher Quinn to finish the film, which went on its double triumph at Sundance and pickup by Newmarket Films.
 
"This was a film I badly wanted for WFF in 2006," notes WFF director Steve Lawson. "For once, I absolutely agreed with the awards! It didn't pan out last fall, but when Christopher brought his film 21 Up America here instead he had such a good time that he persuaded the distributor to let us have GOD GREW for this off-season event."
 
Tickets are $12 (Images members and students, $10), and Quinn will be on hand for a Q-&-A after the screening. For advance reservations, call Images at (413) 458-1039.
 
Friday, June 22nd. It'll be a memorable night in the tradition of other Williamstown Film Festival off-season events - The Illusionist, Shadow of the Vampire, The Last Kiss, For Love or Country, The Quiet American.