Director, Narrator Cinematographer: Alcides Soares

Executive Producer: Holly Carter

Producers: Chris Zalla and Neal Baer

DESCRIPTION

Two renowned filmmakers help 16-year-old, Alcides Soares, make a short film about his life as an AIDS orphan in Maputo, Mozambique. One of the 500,000 Mozambican kids who lost both parents to AIDS, Alcides's documentary about finding family is both intimate and inspiring. Chris Zalla (2007 Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner) and Neal Baer (Executive Producer of Law & Order: SVU), went to Maputo, Mozambique in August 2007, to help a child who had lost both parents to AIDS make a film about his life.

With Chris and Neal, 16-year-old Alcides Soares learned the art of filmmaking and was able to tell his story as a boy living alone in the world. Chris and Neal spent two weeks teaching Alcides the basics of filmmaking – how to use the camera, a Canon XHA1, and the sound equipment as well as techniques for conducting interviews, shooting scenes and computer editing with Final Cut Pro.

The end result is a 27-minute documentary film that reveals the courage of a boy whose faith and ingenuity have enabled him to pull together a home and a sense of family. The organizations Reencontro (in Mozambique) and Venice Arts/The House is Small (in California), which help kids in document their lives through still photography, introduced Neal and Chris to Alcides and provided invaluable resources. Neal and the Law & Order: SVU writers and stars provided the camera, sound and computer equipment for the making of his film.

MENTOR’S STATEMENT

“One of the greatest things about film is that it speaks the universal language of human emotions that transcend cultural boundaries. Though the clamor of our busy world will no doubt drone on we can help add a child’s voice to that din, and just maybe, open up a new conversation. And we can listen,” says Chris Zalla.

The film has screened at over 40 film festivals including the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, SiverDocs, Rhode Island International (Winner of first place Directorial Discovery Award) Film Festival, DocuWest (Winner of Best Documentary Short), Globians, Manhattan Short Film Festival (Winner of Best Documentary), New Orleans Films Festival, MY HERO international Film Festival (Winner of Best in Fest and Dan Eldon Activist Award), Youth Producing Change, Adelaide Kids Film Festival, Impact DOCS Award.