Angels of Milot: Haiti's Aftershock
January 12, 2010…
A 7.0 magnitude earthquake strikes Haiti.
Over 300,000 killed and an estimated 50,000 severely maimed with crushing injuries to their limbs.
The plight of the Haitian people - some of the poorest, least healthy and most disadvantaged on earth – immediately goes from bad to worse.
There is no plan to handle the medical implications of the worst earthquake in this region in more than 200 years.
Dr. John Lovejoy Jr., a retired orthopedic surgeon from Florida, has graciously volunteered at Hôpital Sacré Coeur for over 10 years. Immediately following the quake, he enlists his son, Dr. John Lovejoy III – an orthopedic surgeon at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC – to help him organize a U.S. response team. Efficiently, but not without difficulty, they find private transportation and pull together another surgeon, two nurses and a physician’s assistant to arrive in Milot only four days after the quake.
The documentary, filmed from unique camera access to the hospital, volunteers and patients through four separate trips, will delve into the logistics of converting an overloaded hospital into an expanded M*A*S*H unit and using a nearby school for triage and post operative treatment. In just one week the medical team performed over 180 surgeries and saw over 400 injured patients. Methodically, examination rooms were transformed into surgical suites and eventually six operating rooms were up and running concurrently. Meanwhile, a 40-foot shipping container was outfitted as a mobile prosthetic unit and shipped to the hospital to provide post-operativecare, physical therapy and artificial limbs necessary for recovery, but almost impossible to obtain in Haiti.
The film will also introduce you to some of the most amazing Haitian people you would never have met otherwise. For the most part, they are not despondent or mournful – but uplifted and grateful for their lives having been saved. And their lust for life is contagious.
The filmmakers hope to increase public awareness of the hospital, the hardships facing the country and the funding needs of the CRUDEM Foundation to continue to provide medical treatment to the sick and injured so that as a generation of amputees grows up, they can be adequately cared and provided for. This commitment is without a doubt long-term. Most importantly, Angels of Milot, Haiti’s Aftershock, tells the story of an appropriately named hospital, amazingly in tact after a devastating event. This special place of healing was and is positioned for greatness – thanks to the help of an expert medical team with a heart for healing – and the resilient and generous spirit of the people of Haiti.
Ellen Lovejoy, Producer
Executive Producer, Ellen Lovejoy has served as SVP of Sales and Programming for Target Entertainment Group since 2002. She has dealt extensively with both buyers and commissioners at US network and cable broadcasters, most recently forging deals with HBO, National Geographic, Investigation Discovery and Masterpiece Theater on PBS.
Bernardo Santana III, Director/Editor
Award winning cinematographer, Bernardo Santana III is a native of Puerto Rico, who began his career in Panama. He has extensive experience in news, documentaries, and features, including filming with coalition forces in the Iraq War.
Tony Haines, Post Production Director/Editor
Tony Haines is the president of Florida-based Digital Video Arts production company and has been producing award-winning programming for 30 years. His documentary work on the Water’s Journey series, nationally distributed on PBS in recent years, helped to establish a new paradigm for presenting environmental water issues and conservation. He is also an Emmy-award winning editor for the Lillehammer, Norway Olympics on CBS and ABC’s Prime Time Live.
Kristin will be representing "Angels of Milot: Haiti's Aftershock" to PBS stations nationally in 2011.
For more information and to watch the trailer, please visit: Angels of Milot.org.
John Kaplan's "Not As I Pictured:
A Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist's Journey Through Lymphoma"
Diagnosed at age 48 with a potentially deadly form of lymphoma, Pulitzer Prize-winning photo-journalist Kaplan turned the lens on himself and chronicled his experience in this moving visual journal.
Winner of the Overseas Press Club Award and national Newspaper Photographer of the Year, Kaplan, now a University of Florida journalism professor, husband, and father of two young children, says, "The film uses anything but the typical melancholy, clichéd approach toward cancer stories. Not As I Pictured is upbeat and life affirming."
Moved by the film's content, a number of musicians donated the use of their music for the film's soundtrack, including Michael Stipe and R.E.M., Chris Martin of Coldplay, David Bowie, will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, Justin Timberlake, Pantera, and the Cowboy Junkies. Their contributions helped Not As I Pictured win Best Soundtrack at the 2010 Maverick Movie Awards, and the ADDY Best of Show for Public Service.
Not As I Pictured has also captured the attention of the film industry, receiving more than 20 film honors, including two prestigious CINE Golden Eagle Awards and several Best Documentary film festival accolades.
Kaplan's cancer diagnosis forever changed his outlook. "Your priorities become crystal-clear, immediately. The veneer is stripped away. I just want to be alive to see my kids grow up."
With help from his family, doctors, and even Mother Teresa and a rock star, Kaplan shares the same boundless determination and powerful storytelling ability that helped him become one of America's best-known photojournalists. Although the topic is serious, the film is positive and ends with the news of Kaplan's complete remission and return to good health.
"During my treatment, we received so much unexpected help along the way, often from strangers," he says. "In sharing our family's story, I'm determined to give some of that kindness back."
In addition to being awarded with the Overseas Press Club Award and being named national Newspaper Photographer of the Year, John Kaplan's leading honors include the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography in 1992. He is also a Fulbright Scholar.
Kristin will be representing "Not As I Pictured" to PBS stations nationally.
For more information and to watch the trailer, please visit Not As I Pictured.org.