Correction appended
An amplified focus on the genocide in Darfur has drawn international attention away from tragedies occurring in south Sudan, filmmaker Jen Marlowe said at a panel discussion Tuesday evening.
"The peace process that was started [in South Sudan] ... has been allowed to slide back into what looks like a slide back into civil war," Marlowe said.
Dave Eggers, author and founder of literary journal McSweeney's; Karim Chrobog, founder of 18th Street Films; and Marlowe presented projects focusing on the "lost boys" of south Sudan.
The "lost boys" are refugees and former child soldiers of the south Sudanese civil war who were only children when the war broke out between the government in Khartoum and the Sudanese People's Liberation Army during the early 1980s. These boys, now men, have only recently begun to return to their homeland, Marlowe said.
Marlowe showed clips from her upcoming documentary, "Rebuilding Hope," which follows three "lost boys" as they return home, reuniting with family and bringing aid.
"At best, nothing had changed for the people since the peace agreement - besides not being shot at, nothing had changed in their lives," Marlowe said.
Eggers wrote a book about "lost boy" Valentino Achak Deng's return to south Sudan, "What is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng," he said.
In his journeys with Deng, Eggers said he encountered many south Sudanese in need of medical expertise and education. Some women abducted and forced into slavery as children are only now returning to their homes, Eggers said.
"We were very encouraged by the spirit of cooperation and mutual goals that everyone had," he said.
Chrobog presented clips from his upcoming documentary, "War Child," which follows "lost boy" and former child soldier Emmanuel Jal. Jal is now a hip-hop artist who includes a message of peace in his work, according to the program.
The three artists should aim to highlight the problems in south Sudan, Marlowe said.
"Many groups have made Darfur their common cause, often at the expense of south Sudan," she said.
Many people are ignoring parts of Sudan at the cost of others, said Jeremy Meredith, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences who attended the panel.
"A lot of people don't even know that Darfur is in Sudan, a lot of people don't even know that there is a south Sudan," he said. "It's sad - they're not concentrating on the overall issue."
The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting presented the panel in partnership with the School of Communication, the Washington College of Law's Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, ENOUGH, the Valentino Achak Deng Foundation and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Correction: A photo caption incorrectly indicates that Eggers, Marlowe and Chrobog presented "their film" at the event. In fact, each presented their own works. The photo is of Dave Eggers showing slides from his visit.
