Watch this Journey with an open heart

Although its country of origin is the USA (and the first portion of the film following the young American therapists as they begin their own trip is shot there), Journey of Hope is largely filmed in Georgetown, Guyana, in an orphanage run by an unsung Guyanese hero, Kenneth Finlayson. Like the other festival documentary set in Guyana, The Bastard Sings the Sweetest Song, Journey confronts directly complicated social hardships brought about by simple poverty and deprivation. Though the American therapists and their approach to the challenges are the main focus of the film, the real stars of it are the children and the hardworking Guyanese who function without the money and other support so readily available to even shoestring American productions. There is a double irony here in that the American viewer (or, indeed, filmmaker) might be surprised by the suggestion that the Guyanese orphans are often relegated, emotionally, to a backdrop to the American initiative and focus; and there may be a triple irony if that suggestion were to be dismissed as mere complaint. That said, the documentary remains powerful and hopeful and should be watched with an open mind and heart.

 

 

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