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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Boys of Baraka, The

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Boys of Baraka, The reviews
71
7.8 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 20 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 5 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Documentary

Written by:

Directed by: Heidi Ewing
Rachel Grady

Release Date:
Theatrical: November 30, 2005
DVD: June 6, 2006

Running Time: 83 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: Not Rated

On September 12, 2002 twenty "at risk" 12-year-old boys from the tough streets of inner-city Baltimore left home to attend the 7th and 8th grade at Baraka, an experimental boarding school located in Kenya, East Africa. Here, faced with a strict academic and disciplinary program as well as the freedom to be normal teenage boys, these brave kids began the daunting journey towards putting their lives on a fresh path. This documentary focuses on four of these boys and captures their amazing journey. (Loki Films)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

TV Guide Ken Fox

Warmly funny and very moving.

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100

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Overflowing with comedy and drama, The Boys of Baraka unfolds on the mean streets of Baltimore and in the wide-open spaces of Kenya.

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100

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

The Boys of Baraka leaves you outraged in the way only the best documentaries can.

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88

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

There are many tragedies and accomplishments here, without the engineered uplift afflicting any number of lesser documentaries.

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80

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

Ewing and Grady could have done a better job filling in each boy's back story, as well as explaining exactly how Baraka started and what its agenda is. But the film is clearly a labor of love, portraying the lives of its subjects with tremendous intimacy and passion.

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80

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

A moving, troubling documentary. Moving because of the nature of the problem it explores, troubling because the film can't help but underline that simple solutions are never going to present themselves, no matter how much we want them to.

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80

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

Rich, sweet, densely layered and deeply satisfying. A film that might have been a dry exercise in earnest nonfiction filmmaking becomes a soaring, artistically complex testament to survival, character and hope.

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80

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

Sensitive, intelligent, enlightening, and sometimes surprising.

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80

Film Threat Eric Campos

An entertaining experience as the filmmakers focus on a few select boys who provide a wealth of charm as they struggle with their new surroundings.

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75

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

The results are amazing, though bittersweet, and demonstrate how complicated and expensive it is (though not impossible) to break the cycle of poverty, crime and lack of education.

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75

New York Post V.A. Musetto

Seventy percent of black boys in Baltimore do not graduate from high school. They're more likely to land in jail -- or a cemetery. But there is hope, according to The Boys of Baraka, an uplifting documentary.

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75

San Francisco Chronicle Walter Addiego

Gripping.

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75

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Here is a movie that makes you want to do something. Cry, or write a check, or howl with rage.

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70

The New York Times Stephen Holden

The Boys of Baraka is so rich that you wish there were more of it.

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70

The Hollywood Reporter Sura Wood

The docu is not visually innovative, but the content more than makes up for what it lacks in style.

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50

Variety Joe Leydon

Feels achingly sad and frustratingly incomplete.

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50

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Bill White

The most interesting moments in the film are the videotapes sent back and forth between the parents and students, as they communicate the sadness of children separated from their distant families.

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50

The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray

Ewing and Grady practically squander the African material, and The Boys Of Baraka doesn't really come to life until the boys return to Baltimore for what turns out to be a permanent summer vacation, due to political unrest overseas.

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50

LA Weekly Ernest Hardy

The kids absolutely win your heart, but there's something off-putting in the film's lazy juxtaposition of unexamined Negro dysfunction tropes (absent fathers, violent streets) against an idyllic Africa tended by white benevolence.

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40

Village Voice Laura Sinagra

The Boys of Baraka's heart may be in the right place, but its portrait of poor Baltimore kids selected to attend boarding school in Kenya is rife with suspect perspectives.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 7.8 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

K. Douglas gave it a7:
Like Hoop Dreams,both hopeful and heartbreaking.Unlike H.D.,not enough background material to fully satisfy the audience.

M & V gave it a10:
We both loved the Boys of Baraka. Especially the hedgehog!

Gregory M. gave it an8:
I saw this at the Chicago International Film Festival with a friend of mine who was a residential counselor at this school for 3 years. The film is well made and poignant, crafted with surprising skill from its freshmen directors. Unfortunately, there is a lot they left out for political purposes so a film that sets out to examine urban life, poverty, crime and race ends up neglecting the institutionalization of these same problems.

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