AllMovie

Filmmaker Arthur Howes returns his attention to the perpetually downtrodden Sudanese people with his 2002 documentary, Benjamin and His Brother -- the story of two brothers displaced from their homeland by civil war and then separated by bad luck. In the late '80s, thousands of Sudanese boys walked to Ethiopia and then to Kenya while believing that an education in either country would save them and set them on the path to wealth and knowledge. Participating in the mass emigration were brothers Benjamin and William Deng, who, after arriving in Kenya, sign on to another emigration program to the U.S.A. called "The Process" that is touted to ensure the education the brothers have been seeking. Unfortunately, due to a bureaucratic mix-up, only William is cleared to leave, with Benjamin left behind in Kenya and subsequently promising to join his brother in America at the earliest possible moment. As Benjamin works to reunite with his brother, William arrives in the U.S. and discovers that "The Process" is actually a program to import cheap labor, leaving the African youth little choice but to find a demeaning and low-paying job in order to survive. Benjamin and His Brother was selected for numerous African and human rights-oriented film festivals throughout 2002 and 2003.