GRACE & MERCY / THE THING THAT HAPPENED

Co-presented by HCX|Haiti Film Fest.  Grace & Mercy is a feature documentary that interweaves the tireless work of Marie Jose Poux who runs an orphanage responsible for over 60 children and her brother, Ben Constant, who is the “Mayor” of one of the largest tent cities in Port-au-Prince. Combining unprecedented access with cinema-vérité footage, director Luis Peña paints a beautiful portrait of a brother and sister team who have dedicated their lives to rebuilding their home country of Haiti. Shot over the course of the year following the devastating January 12th earthquake, the film aims to shows how Haiti survives — no matter what — and will one day thrive again.

Director: Luis Peña; Producer: Trace Sheehan; Cinematographer:  Jim Frohna; Music: Peter Broderick; Editor: Scott Hamilton Kennedy, Kevin Jones.

Website: www.wehearyourvoice.org

The Thing that Happened is a 22-minute documentary short that profiles the Hope North Secondary and Vocational School in Northern Uganda. Hope North struggles on a shoestring budget to provide a home and an education for children displaced by the civil war between the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UDPF). The students are a mix of former child soldiers, orphans and the abjectly poor. Mitigating the horrific effects of the war and focusing them on their future is a monumental task.

Director: Andrew Walton; Producer: Andrew Walton; Cinematographer:  Jeff Stonehouse; Music: Adam Horovitz, Michael Rohatyn; Editor: Stephen Jess

Website: www.thethingthathappened.com