a small act
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010
This weekend the documentarian as activist was discussed at “Envision: Addressing Global Issues Through Documentaries,” an event presented by the IFP and UN and hosted by The New York Times at The Times Center. In her introductory remarks, IFP Executive Director Joanna Vicente pledged that the program, now in its second year, would continue to use the UN’s Millennium Development Goals as its focal point and praised the program for attempting to “envision a better world for all and achieving that through media.” It was a sentiment echoed by Kiyoa Akasaka, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, who professed himself a “die-hard” fan of documentaries and praised filmmakers for “deepening our understanding of complex issues.”
The morning got off to an impressive start with a keynote speech by the iconic actor, singer and activist, Harry Belafonte. The former UNICEF ambassador passionately exclaimed that there was no “greater cause than the welfare of the children of our planet,” and went on to praise the power of media to instigate change, asserting, “Most of the solutions are not really complicated. What is needed is the human will to commit ourselves to what is morally right.”
Belafonte praised Jennifer Arnold‘s A Small Act, the documentary screening after his speech, saying that it had “deeply moved” him. (For more on Arnold, check out our interview, here.) Picking up the film’s theme that even the smallest act can make the largest difference, Belafonte recounted how he, Eleanor Roosevelt and Jackie Robinson had once organized an airlift that helped place 143 Kenyan students in various American universities — an action that violated a treaty between Great Britain and America.
One of those students? Barack Obama, Senior. Belafonte marveled at how event the smallest charitable act can reshape the history of the world.
During the panel discussion “Education Obstacles & Solutions in Africa,” the power of documentary to change lives was driven home by the experiences of UN employee Chris Mburu, a man whose life story is featured in A Small Act. The recipient of a scholarship that sent … Read the rest
No Comments
Category Festival Coverage | Tags: a small act, Davis Guggenheim, documentary, Envision, Harry Belafonte, IFP, Jennifer Arnold, Lesley Chilcott, UN, Waiting for Superman,
Thursday, July 8th, 2010
Presented by the IFP and UN, Envision is a daylong program dealing with the addressing of global issues through documentary. It takes place Saturday, July 10, and you can learn more here. Jennifer Arnold’s A Small Act is one of two features that will be screened at the event.
As an impoverished boy in Kenya, Chris Mburu received the fortune of one person’s small donation. When WWII-survivor Hilde Back anonymously sponsored an African child’s education, Chris not only went through school but also became a Harvard-educated human rights lawyer for the UN, all unbeknownst to Hilde. So inspired, Chris and his cousin Jane Wanjiru Muijai started the Hilde Back fund, their own scholarship fund to help Kenyan children pay to go to secondary school. In the vibrant documentary A Small Act, filmmaker Jennifer Arnold explores the world of “every dollar helps” and the incredible ripple effects possible. Arnold captures the story of Chris’s life, as Chris travels to meet Hilde for the first time, the developing process of the new Hilde fund and the lives of three children who may benefit from it.
Filmmaker: How did you hear about Chris and Hilde in the first place?
Arnold: I went to the University of Nairobi as an undergraduate for a year abroad and Jane, Chris’s cousin, she and I lived next door to each other in the dorms. I stayed in touch with her and wanted to give money to a kid in Kenya. So I called her and said, “Who’s trustworthy? I want to make sure that the money’s going to get to the kids. I don’t want it stolen.” She told me “My cousin and I are starting a fund, and he’s looking for a sponsor,” then started telling me the story. I thought it would be an amazing doc.
Chris had met Hilde for the first time already so I felt like, “Oh it already happened, that’s a bummer because it would’ve been a great film.” Then I had found out that he had videotaped her coming to Kenya and I said, “Please send me that videotape!” … Read the rest
Friday, January 22nd, 2010
-784516.jpg)
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Friday, Jan. 22, 12:00 pm -- Temple Theatre, Park City]
The documentary project A Small Act follows five main characters through two interlocking storylines, but we only had one camera. We were constantly forced to decide which story, and which character within the story, to follow.
There was one day in particular that we absolutely needed to be in three places at once, which was impossible of course. We were filming three Kenyan students as they competed for a life-changing scholarship. The students had taken a national exam and the exam score determined their scholarship eligibility. If they did well on the test, they could get sponsored and continue with school. If they failed, their educations were over and they would spend their lives doing manual labor.
I knew the film’s success was totally reliant on catching the kids’ reactions as they saw their scores. In the past, students would get their exam results at school, meaning in one location. But this year, results were available by text message. Suddenly we had main characters in different locations, each one texting away. The choices were: stay in one place, knowing we would have at least one solid scene on camera; or risk it and drive back and forth between locations, hoping to catch multiple kids get their scores, but knowing we could miss all three big moments completely. I risked it and the footage we shot that day absolutely makes the film.
Photo By: Patti Lee… Read the rest
-784536.jpg)
