October 9, 2006

Montrey Moore, featured in The Boys of Baraka, to attend BIFF Kids Film Festival

Third annual festival to be held October 13-15 at Liberty Theatre

The Bermuda International Film Festival and Butterfield Bank, today announced that Montrey Moore, one of the subjects of the documentary film The Boys of Baraka, will appear at the third annual festival.

Montrey, 15, and his mother, Jacqueline Harrington, will travel from their home in Baltimore for the event. Montrey, whose transformation from troubled teen to mathematics scholar is one of the inspirational story lines in the film, will also answer audience questions after the screening.

The documentary tells the story of 20 "at risk" 12-year-old boys from the tough streets of inner-city Baltimore who leave home to attend the seventh and eighth grades at Baraka, an experimental boarding school in Kenya, East Africa. Here, faced with strict academic and disciplinary programmes, as well as the freedom to be normal teenage boys, these brave kids begin the daunting journey towards putting their lives on a fresh path.

"The Boys of Baraka has particular relevance for us in Bermuda because we face some of the same challenges faced by families and the school system in Baltimore," says BIFF Kids programmer Christian Zabriskie. "The kids we label as 'at-risk' often just need to be in the proper atmosphere, both academic and social, conducive to learning and achievement. Montrey's story is an example of what kids can achieve when some of the obstacles to achievement are removed."

The film has won numerous festival awards, including Best Documentary kudos at the Newport Beach, Atlanta and Chicago film festivals. It won Audience Awards at both the prestigious AFI/Silverdocs, and Woodstock, festivals, and earned a Special Jury Award at SXSW (Austin, Texas).

The Boys of Baraka will screen on Saturday October 14 at noon at Liberty Theatre.