Brownstones to Red Dirt
BROWNSTONES TO RED DIRT captures the growth of kids from housing projects in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn and war orphans living in Freetown, Sierra Leone who are brought together by a pen pal program that will change their lives.
The children start with no knowledge of what their pen pals’ lives are like. But soon, stereotyped images of verdant African plains full of zebras and lions and American mansions with three car garages are replaced with the harsh realities of life in each place. Slowly, the children build friendships through basic questions. As they learn about one another, they also learn about themselves. Kids in Sierra Leone discover that there are people who care about them, that their existence does matter. The students in Brooklyn see the world beyond the projects and unearth a sense of compassion they will take with them the rest of their lives.
The film utilizes interviews with the children as well as their own letters to show that the factors that have shaped their lives are remarkably similar, despite the vast differences of their experiences. BROWNSTONES TO RED DIRT focuses on four pairs of pen pals to show how these two “lost” groups will help one another find their way through an increasingly complex and confusing world.
- By on March 22, 2012 at 12:49 pm
