Kean Human Rights Institute to Screen THE GOOD LIE, 10/8

John Prendergast, Kean University's Human Rights Senior Fellow, will present a screening of The Good Lie on October 8 at 7:15 p.m. in the state-of-the-art STEM Auditorium, located in Kean's STEM Building. The premiere will be attended by Mr. Prendergast, an internationally acclaimed human rights activist, who appears in the film and has a longstanding relationship with the University.

"The Good Lie is an extraordinary film that brings the incredible saga of the 'Lost Boys' to the screen in a way that entertains as well as inspires," said Mr. Prendergast. "In my work in Africa during the last thirty years, I came across many of the 'Lost Boys' inside Sudan, in Ethiopia, and in Kenya during their incredible journeys to safety."

The Good Lie, opening in limited release on October 3 and distributed domestically by Warner Brothers Pictures, tells the story of the so-called "Lost Boys." Orphaned by the brutal civil war in Sudan, which began in 1983, these young victims traveled as many as a thousand miles on foot in search of safety. Fifteen years later, a humanitarian effort would bring 3,600 lost boys, as well as girls, to America.

"We created the Human Rights Institute at Kean to give our students, our faculty and the communities we serve an opportunity to be part of the global effort to identify solutions to human rights violations," stated Dr. Dawood Farahi, President of Kean University. "Our relationship with John Prendergast, and his willingness to be an integral part of Kean's efforts, brings us another step forward in this mission."

Mr. Prendergast, named Kean University's Anne Evans Estabrook Human Rights Senior Fellow in 2013, will be on campus working with students and faculty throughout the week. In March 2014 while in residence, Prendergast met with student leaders and the Kean Human Rights Conference committee, hosted various talks regarding global and local human rights issues, and attended an event in support of Unlikely Brothers, a dual memoir co-authored with his first little brother in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program.

"The stories verged on the unbelievable," said Mr. Prendergast of the "Lost Boys" he has met through his work, "and I wondered how anyone could ever understand what they had GONE through with such perseverance and dignity. And now their stories are being told in the form of this very unique movie. The African cast is amazing in their portrayal of the pain and hope that the 'Lost Boys' experienced. Their stories will be hard to forget."

A tireless advocate for peace in Africa, Mr. Prendergast is the Founding Director of the Enough Project, an initiative to end genocide and crimes against humanity affiliated with the Center for American Progress. He is the author or co-author of ten books, including Not On Our Watch with Don Cheadle, a New York Times bestseller and NAACP non-fiction book of the year, and The Enough Moment: Fighting to End Africa's Worst Human Rights Crimes. He previously served as Kean's keynote speaker for #ENOUGH! - Affecting Change from the Frontlines to Your Newsfeed, the University's sixth annual Human Rights Conference in 2013.

In The Good Lie, Philippe Falardeau (writer and director of the Oscar-nominated Foreign-Language film Monsieur Lazhar) brings the story of the survival and triumph of the "Lost Boys" to life. Academy Award winner Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line) stars alongside Sudanese actors Arnold Oceng, Ger Duany, Emmanuel Jal, and newcomer Kuoth Wiel, some of whom were also children of war.

The HRI and University at large have addressed the ongoing conflict in Sudan through a variety of mediums over the years, namely Darfur: The First Genocide of the 21st Century, the topic of its inaugural Human Rights Conference in 2008.

Kean's screening of The Good Lie, held in the STEM Auditorium of the NJ STEM Building, will take place at 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday, October 8. General admission is $12.00, and doors open at 6:30 p.m. VIP tickets, which include premier seating and a cocktail reception with Mr. Prendergast at Ursino Restaurant scheduled for 5:30 p.m., are $50.00. Eighty percent of every dollar collected will go to the Enough Project's work for peace in Sudan and South Sudan, with THE REMAINING twenty percent going back to the Human Rights Institute. Mr. Prendergast will participate in a brief Q & A session immediately following the screening. Tickets may be purchased in person at the Kean Stage box office, located in Kean's Wilkins Theatre, by phone at 908-737-SHOW (7469), or online at www.kean.edu/TheGoodLie. No children under 13 will be admitted.

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