Celebrating Resilience
Huguens Jean, ’03, ’11, Ph.D., electrical engineering, and Clifford Muse, ’11, information systems, returned to Haiti in March 2010, after the devastating January earthquake, to fulfill their grandfather’s last request of them. As he was dying of cancer, he asked that at his funeral they celebrate his life and “find the joy.” “I had no idea what that meant until we encountered these people in Haiti,” said Jean, “These images of life continuing on.”
The brothers missed their grandfather’s funeral when the earthquake made travel to Port-au-Prince impossible, but they resolved to find a way to honor his memory. The new documentary film “Lift Up,” co-directed by Jean and UMBC alumnus Phillip Knowlton, records their journey back home.
“Lift Up” tells a story of people who have faced profound obstacles with resilience and courage. It also contests overly simplistic representations of Haiti that the filmmakers argue have too often dominated the media. Now reporters have a different story to tell.
In their grandfather’s honor, Jean and Muse built a kite like those they had flown together as children in Port-au-Prince, which they then flew in the 2010 Smithsonian Kite Festival in Washington, D.C. In some ways, however, it is this film that is the memorial, rather than the kite alone. As their grandfather wished, through this film Jean and Muse find the joy of life even at a moment of profound national suffering.
“Lift Up” has captured the public’s interest, appearing in the Baltimore Sun and Washington Post, as well as on WYPR’s Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast. “The brothers hope the film will introduce American viewers to another side of Haiti,” notes Sun reporter Childs Walker. “Growing up in Port-au-Prince, they saw the dark side of humanity but also reveled in warm households packed with extended family…and a rich tradition of passing stories from one generation to the next.”
Following a December preview screening at the Embassy of Haiti in Washington, D.C. and a benefit screening in Los Angeles on January 12, the film will be shown during Welcome Week at UMBC on January 27, 8:00 p.m., in the Skylight room on the top floor of the Commons. The campus is invited to attend the free event, which will also include a talk with the filmmakers.
(1/20/2011)
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