Facing Sudan Digital Download, only $2.99!

Facing Sudan is now available for a digital download at MoPix.com.  The download is only $2.99.

The dvd is also available at CDbaby.  Don't worry, even though this is a "cd"store, this is the Special Edition dvd.  It is only $5.99. (Also available at Amazon, but a little more expensive)

Don't forget, there are many items available to enhance your viewing of Facing Sudan:

Official Soundtrack (Free Download)

Facing Sudan Discussion Questions

Facing Sudan Lesson Plans

More information is available at the Official Website for the film.

New review in School Library Journal

Here is the new review of Facing Sudan that appeared in School Library Journal:

Facing Sudan. DVD. 90 min. with tchr’s. guide. Bell, Book & Camera Prods. 2007, 2008 release. $24.95.

Gr 9 Up–Twenty years of bloody internal fighting in Sudan have left millions dead and displaced. Even though high profile celebrities continue to bring the mayhem to the forefront, most of the world’s governments have been unwilling or impotent to intervene in the genocide. This low-key but overwhelmingly powerful documentary shows how individuals can affect the ongoing situation. Interviews with those involved as well as the victims of the violence are supplemented by a powerful collection of video footage, including actual Sudanese military attacks on the populace. Resulting from a seemingly incidental conversation between a young custodian in a suburban Chicago high school and Bruce David Janu, a social science teacher, this timely and touching program provides both a historical context as well as a striking contemporary description of the political, social, medical, and military mayhem in Africa’s darkest corner. One segment on the Lost Boys of Sudan will particularly hit home with younger viewers; be cautioned that there are several instances of graphic images of death and explicit descriptions of events. The film was produced and directed by a teacher who crafted it to be as classroom-friendly as possible with scene selection, English subtitles, several bonus tracks, useful lesson plan suggestions, and a moving soundtrack of original compositions which greatly enhances the spirit of the program. This excellent, award-winning film will definitely have a deep impact on viewers.

Dwain Thomas, formerly Lake Park High School, Roselle, IL -- School Library Journal, 6/5/2008

Facing Sudan Review in Booklist

The following review appears in the May 1 edition of Booklist:

Facing Sudan.
Jan. 2008. 90min. Bell, Book & Camera, DVD, $24.95.
REVIEW. First published May 1, 2008 (Booklist).

Featuring graphic photographs, home-movie footage, and heartbreaking testimonies, this film is “told through the eyes of ordinary people” who are helping the Sudanese, many of whom are dying of starvation and disease. The camera captures images of these valiant heroes, including a college student who travels to Africa to photograph the Sudanese and stays to pass out medicines and offer comfort to malnourished refugees. A Chicago woman opens her home and heart to “lost boys” who seek a better life in America; a New Jersey doctor leaves his thriving practice to give aid to needy Africans; a high-school girl sends disposable cameras to children in refugee camps who take pictures of family and friends victimized by the ethnic struggle; and a young man returns to his native country to help drill wells that provide clean water for thousands. This moving, eye-opening documentary is a call to action.

— Candace Smith

Meeting Tom and Lorne (Finally)

A couple of weeks ago, I finally had the opportunity to meet the songerwriters for Facing Sudan, Tom Flannery and Lorne Clarke. After three years of emails and phone calls here and there, it was great finally meeting them face-to-face.

Tom was performing at the Old Lynn Concert series, which is run by Lorne Clarke. His set included "Crayons and Paper," a song from the film.

I met Tom and Lorne online three years ago while searching for music for the movie. Originally, I had envisioned Bruce Cockburn's "If I Had a Rocket Launcher" as the opening song of the film. However, Cockburn's record label never returned my calls.

And that was a very good thing.   I ended up stumbling across a site online called Songaweek.com. This site featured music by Tom Flannery and Lorne Clarke, including several songs about Darfur and a whole song cycle about the Rwandan Genocide. In fact, Lorne's song, "How Do We Sleep at Night?" from the series on Rwanda became the opening song of Facing Sudan. This song is so much better than the Bruce Cockburn song, for it captures the mood and the feel of the film more than any other song and it introduces a powerful theme that runs throughout the film.

After contacting Tom Flannery for permission to use a song called "It's Called Genocide," Tom replied that I could use the song for free. All that I needed was to properly credit him for the song. He then went on to say that this would be a "a gentleman's agreement." But if I were to appear at the "Oscars with Demi Moore" on my arm or on Larry King with a "new Armani suit," we would have to renegotiate the deal. Needless to say, that never happened. Tom's email did, however, lead to a complete re-envisioning of the film as I soon began to discover more about how music could enhance the film I was trying to make. And in the process, I also discovered two kindred spirits several hundred miles away.

Tom then pointed me to several other songs that could be of use, including some from Lorne Clarke. I soon heard from Lorne, too, who was also enthusiastic about the project. Together, they both offered their services to write more songs as needed.

As the film was coming together, I realized that Tom and Lorne could provide musical continuity to the film. I purposely pulled the planned narration from the film and decided that these two singer/songwriters could provide the needed social commentary through their music. Tom and Lorne's soundtrack holds the film together, linking the images to the emotion. The music thus becomes the conscience of the film.

I could not have made the film without them. And Facing Sudan would not be the film it is without their voices.

Tom and Lorne are both very passionate individuals, using music as a way to comment about politics and life. Understanding that I was tackling this project completely on my own, Tom and Lorne offered all of their music for free use, including all of the songs specifically written for the film. Once a rough cut of the film was complete, I sent the film to Tom and Lorne with suggestions as to where I would like additional music. The two got together then on a Sunday afternoon at Tom's house in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and pushed out the music in a few hours.

The two are very prolific. At Songaweek.com the duo posts music (for free download) every week. Over the last four years, they have had over 1 million downloads.

I encourage all of you to go to the site and give their music a listen. They are both extremely talented individuals who deserve to be heard. It was a pleasure to finally meet them. It was a little strange, however. Although we had not previously met in person, I felt like I had known them for a long, long time.

I am so thankful that three years ago I accidentally stumbled across their music. Today, I count Tom and Lorne among my friends and, in fact, I have become one of their biggest fans.

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To view more images of Tom and Lorne from my visit, please go to the Flickr page.

To get acquainted with the music of Tom Flannery and Lorne Clarke, please visit their website at SongAWeek.com.

Tom has a new album available online. The album is entitled Love in the Present Tense. This is a great album and is available for download for only $6.99. Take a listen here.

In addition, Lorne's new album, Moonlight and Cider is also available. This album features a great new version of Facing Sudan's title theme, "How Do We Sleep at Night?" Take a listen here.

Don't forget, the soundtrack to Facing Sudan is also available. Download it here.

Facing Sudan Featured in National Council for the Social Studies Publication

Facing Sudan recently made the front page of The Social Studies Professional. This publication is the official newsletter for the National Council for the Social Studies. I have been a member of NCSS for many years and even presented a few years ago at the annual convention a workshop entitled, "Give Students the Black Death: Using Drama, Poetry and Song in the Classroom." Unfortunately, I recently let my membership lapse---but will soon rejoin! Thanks NCSS for highlighting the film!

A link to the publication can be found here

Want to see a kid with the black death? Click here.

From Sinatra to Sudan---Teacher makes film about war-torn country

Teacher known for Sinatra gets serious for Sudan documentary

Chicago, January 21, 2008(I-Newswire) - Chicago area history teacher Bruce David Janu never intended to make a feature length documentary about the situation in Sudan. Known for his use of Sinatra in the classroom, including the infamous "Frank Sinatra Detention club," Janu stumbled into feature-filmmaking after meeting Brian Burns, a young janitor at his school.

Burns was sweeping floors on the third shift at John Hersey High School in suburban Arlington Heights when the two crossed paths. They struck up a conversation and when Burns began relating his experiences in Sudan, Janu saw an opportunity for his students.

That chance meeting on a Friday afternoon led not to a speaking engagement in front of a class of freshman, but to a feature documentary entitled Facing Sudan. The film highlights the situation in that war-torn country but is uniquely told through the eyes of ordinary individuals who have made a difference there: a suburban housewife, a 73-year-old pediatrician, a grandmother, a high school student, several Sudanese "lost boys" and, of course, Brian Burns.

"Two years ago, if someone said to me that I would be making a documentary about Sudan," says Janu, "I would have told them they were crazy."

It is Janu's students, however, who think that he is the crazy one. In addition to extra credit Sinatra questions on every test, Janu routinely dresses in costume and dances in front of class in an attempt to get the students interested in history. He sings too. One of his raps about absolutism in Europe even made it on You Tube. His students weren't surprised at his turn as a filmmaker. He had already made several educational videos for his classes over the years and many of his students turned out for the Chicago premiere of Facing Sudan at the Illinois International Film Festival last fall, where it won "Best Documentary."

"I put this film together in my spare time down in the basement," Janu says. "I never thought it would get this much attention." In addition to the long hours, he ended up paying for the film using his credit cards.

Although creating the film was arduous and financially challenging, Janu did have some help. His subjects supplied much of the footage from Sudan and he discovered two singer/songwriters from Pennsylvania, Tom Flannery and Lorne Clarke, willing to compose an original soundtrack for the film. Passionate about Sudan, the duo contributed songs completely pro bono, including "Crayons and Paper," a heartbreaking song that accompanies drawings made by children from Darfur smuggled out of Sudan by a pediatrician working with Doctors Without Borders.

Facing Sudan has toured the festival circuit and received much critical acclaim, including two "best documentary" awards.

The film has now been released on DVD by Bell, Book & Camera Productions with several deleted scenes, director commentary and a bonus song by Tom Flannery.

In addition, Janu has provided free lesson plans and discussion questions for Facing Sudan, hoping that it will fulfill his ultimate goals: education and awareness.

"Anyone can make a difference in this world," he says. "Especially if you know what's going on. As more people know about Sudan, the more likely something will be done."



Press kit, artwork and photos from the film are available at the official website at http://www.facingsudan.com/sudan.html

###

Bell, Book & Camera Productions
PO Box 24
Cary, IL 60013

Tel: 847-721-9222
info@bellbookcamera.com

Other film related sites: http://www.myspace.com/facing_sudan

Songwriters' site: http://www.songaweek.com

Tom Flannery's Site: http://www.tomflannery.com

Lorne Clarke's site: http://www.songaweek.com/lorne/

"Reel Chicago" Article about the film:
http://www.reelchicago.com/archive.cfm?storyID=1628

Information about the Frank Sinatra Detention Club and the director:

New York Times article

Entertainment Weekly article

Children's Photographs from Darfur Featured in Award-winning Documentary

Yale student and her photographs from Sudan are featured in award-winning documentary, "Facing Sudan"

(Newswire Today) — Chicago, IL, United States, 2008-01-18 - Alice Baumgartner, a sophomore at Yale University, never expected to be in a film about Sudan. Two years ago, however, she was approached by Chicago filmmaker and teacher Bruce David Janu about including her unique photograph collection in a film he was making about Sudan.

And those photographs, featuring children from a refugee camp in Chad who had fled the violence in Darfur, are featured in the award-winning documentary along with the young activist.

The film, entitled Facing Sudan, documents the situation in that war-torn country through the eyes of ordinary people, like Alice, who have made a difference there. The film won two BEST DOCUMENTARY awards, first at the Landlocked Film Festival and then at the Illinois International Film Festival.

“The pictures Alice has of these children---taken by children---really highlight the human tragedy that is Darfur,” says Janu, who put the film together over the last two years, paying for the film himself and working long hours in his basement. And he knew he needed to include Alice’s story in the narrative.

As a high school student at the Latin School in Chicago, Alice had wanted to document the situation in Darfur but through the eyes of the region’s most vulnerable victims: the children. After approaching student correspondents from MTV, Alice was able to send two dozen disposable cameras to the war-torn area. They were distributed to children living in a refugee camp in Chad and then sent back to Alice.

The images show the cramped, dusty living conditions of everyday life for refugees fleeing the violence of Darfur. Yet they also capture the attempt by the inhabitants to maintain a sense of normality.

And all of the images are touched with an innocence that only a child’s eye can capture.

"The kids in these pictures,” states Alice, “are real people who are really suffering and who need help.”

In addition to interviews of Alice, the film includes a montage of those photographs set to music written and performed by Pennsylvania native Tom Flannery.

Facing Sudan was recently released on DVD and includes bonus footage of Alice discussing her photographs.

# # #

Related Link: http://www.facingsudan.com/sudan.html
Contact name: Bruce David Janu
Related Link: http://www.facingsudan.com/sudan_clips.html
847-462-5941 / info@bellbookcamera.com

MUSICIANS AND FILMMAKER TEAM UP FOR SUDAN DOC

Pennsylvanian musicians Tom Flannery and Lorne Clarke never expected to record a soundtrack for a film. Two years ago, however, they were approached by Chicago filmmaker Bruce David Janu about including a couple of songs on his upcoming Sudan documentary.

Soon they were composing the entire soundtrack.

The film, entitled Facing Sudan, documents the situation in that war-torn country through the eyes of ordinary people who have made a difference there. The film won two BEST DOCUMENTARY awards.

The songwriters are well-known throughout northeastern Pennsylvania and contribute songs on a weekly basis to their website, songaweek.com. Since setting up the site, they have had over 1 million downloads. It is through songaweek.com where Janu first came into contact with their music.

"It blew me away," he stated. Initially, Janu asked to use a couple of songs, but soon realized that the duo could provide the musical voice for the entire film. So Flannery and Clarke started writing songs about "Lost Boys," genocide and Sudan. One of Flannery's songs, "Crayons and Paper," accompany heartbreaking drawings from children in Darfur.

And, because of their passion for the issue, they provided the music pro bono.

Now, to commemorate the dvd release of the film, Flannery has written a new song entitled "I Want To" which can be downloaded for free at http://www.songaweek.com.

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For more information about the film and to download the press kit and photographs, visit:

http://www.facingsudan.com/sudan.html

For more information about the songwriters, visit:

http://www.songaweek.com
http://www.myspace.com/kikomusictomflannery
www.myspace.com/lorneclarke1

New FACING SUDAN Trailer

Here is the new trailer for Facing Sudan.

New Facing Sudan Clip

Here is a new clip from the documentary. It is called "Voices from Darfur" and features a song by Lorne Clarke entitled, "Requiem for Butare." The song is from "The Rwandan Song Cycle" by Lorne Clarke and Tom Flannery. The entire song cycle can be found at http://www.songaweek.com/rwanda.