# 703: film about restavek (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From:Kramerkar@aol.com

I would appreciate if you would let the List know about the following project 
I am doing in regard to the restavek:
In 1997 I received a small grant from the Soros Foundation to produce a film 
on the plight of the restavek.  Since then I have made several trips to Haiti 
for the purpose of filming and interviewing many people about this.  Working 
with my Haitian friend and assistant, Carlo Thelasco, we filmed approximately 
15 hours of footage.  We filmed several children as they went about their day 
fetching water, cleaning, washing, sweeping, cooking, caring for other 
children, etc.  We were even able to interview a few of them (they were all 
very shy) as well as their caretakers.  One little boy told us (on camera) 
how he often wants to run away, and how at night he dreams of being back in 
the countryside playing with his siblings.  When he awakes and finds it is 
only a dream, he starts to cry.  The caretakers spoke openly - even proudly - 
of all the things "their" restavek does for them, what a hard worker s/he is, 
how they couldn't get along without them, etc.  We also filmed interviews 
with several human rights workers, psychologists, and progressive teachers 
who are working with these children.  In these interviews the speakers 
analyze some of the reasons and context for the restavek, as well as some of 
the steps to what the solution might be.  We also went to the countryside to 
film several hours of background material, to show where many of these 
children come from.
In January, I will be making one more trip to Haiti to follow up on some of 
the children we filmed a year ago and then our filming will be complete.  We 
need to raise more funding for the editing (hint, hint) and maybe some people 
on the List have contacts with interested organizations and individuals - 
we're tax deductible.  In any case, as soon as the film is completed, we hope 
to have a first-rate document about this situation that many people will be 
able to see.
I'll be happy to keep you up to date on what's happening with the film.
Thanks for the dialogue, Bob         Karen Kramer