Kids Say the Sharpest Things

Today, we screened the film for 316 students! After they hooted, hollered and cheered when they saw what the kids in Brooklyn were able to achieve in the film's climax, we had the daunting task of standing in front of a full house of students and answering their questions.

Pretty early on, a middle school kid stood up and said, "In the film, there is a mural that says 'Change your thoughts and you change your world' – has this experience changed your thoughts and your world?" We were sort of blown away by the question. It forced us to try to verbalize the how the film has affected us, which is no small task. Chad answered that, coming from a small town in Vermont where his graduating class only had 25 students, he had some serious preconceived notions about what life would be like in both places. Then, after meeting the kids and their families and seeing their sense of hope, especially in Sierra Leone, and the genuine kindness of the people he met in Bed-Stuy, he was embarrassed by what he thought they might be like. He went on to talk about how the experience has opened his eyes to the world and how he is careful not to form any preconceived notions in any aspect of his life.

Yesterday, we sat in a circle of 7-8th grade students at the Creative Arts Charter School in San Francisco and faced an equally impressive question. The kids were really curious as to where we stayed while we were in Sierra Leone. When we explained that we crashed in a fancy tourist hotel where we were on the beach, had access to showers, wi-fi and pizza, a kid raised his hand and asked how we could put ourselves up in a place with all the luxuries and comforts of home while the kids in the orphanage lived on dirt floors.

Honestly, that's a question we have often asked ourselves. How can we justify spending money to make a film rather than just giving it directly to people in need? The answer, we think, is doing everything we can to get the kids' stories out to the world. Thankfully, as we continue to work the festival circuit and meet with students like the ones we've seen in San Francisco, the voices of the kids in Sierra Leone and Brooklyn grow louder. And with each class that watches and discusses the film, awareness grows. We hope the film takes on a life of its own and inspires more action from kids throughout the world... and if it does, we'll know we've done our job.

A Busy Day at the SF Film Festival

We spent the day speaking to students at the St. Monica School and the Creative Arts Charter School in San Francisco. They had lots of great questions for us, from how we picked the kids who starred in the documentary to the challenges we faced while traveling in Sierra Leone. Thanks to the festival organizers for setting this up! And tonight we were lucky enough to screen Brownstones for the staff at a little place called Pixar Animation Studios. Whoa. All in all, an incredible day.

Greetings From San Francisco!

We just arrived in the cool, grey city of love for the 53rd San Francisco International Film Festival. We're so excited to be here! Brownstones is part of the festival's Schools at the Festival program, so we'll be speaking with lots of kids over the next two days. We're so curious to hear what they think of the film. Our screening for the students is Tuesday, April 27 at 10:00 am at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas. We'll keep you posted on how it all goes!

The Determination of Balla

Sweet and artistic Balla was just 12 years old when we started filming. Much like his pen pal Malik, he wants to be a working artist someday. Balla lives at the Children in Crisis orphanage. Aunty Musu rescued him when he was 5 years old, just after the rebel soldiers murdered his parents.

I want to be like most big people. I want to have an office so people can call me so I can draw for them.

If my friend ever needs anything, if they ask me I will give it to them. That’s what makes a good friend. If my pen pal is good, I feel happy.

I ask myself, what can I remember about the rebels? What do I remember about what they did? When I remember it angers me. What they took from me, oh God.

From the bottom of my heart, I want to get big so I can avenge what they [the rebels] have done to me. What they’ve done to me, to my parents, and to my people ... But my parents would want me to be a good Sierra Leonean. I want to be a good Sierra Leonean. That is my wish.

Drawing will make things better for me, so I will not slack off, I will hold on tight.

Malik's Hope

Meet Malik, a playful and creative kid from Bed-Stuy. He lives with his mom and sister and was 11 years old when we first met him. Sometimes it seems he’s been around for far longer than that!

I have like three back-up plans to my first job. I want to be a game designer, if I can’t do that, I’ll be a writer, and if I can’t do that, I’ll be an artist, and if I can’t do that I’ll be a photographer. Backup plans...

I think bullies are unsure of themselves. Heck, why would they be bothering people. Someone is bothering them. Those kids don’t think they’re special enough. They are special. We’re all special.

[Referring to his pen pal, Balla] I like that we both draw, I think that’s really something special. He likes drawing, I like drawing. I really think we could be a perfect match.

These kids kinda like deserve a second chance. I mean if I could just turn back the clock, I could just stop this war.

People. Friends. Other countries. Tokyo. Sure I’m black. Sure you’re black. Sure you’re white. Sure you’re Spanish. Sure you’re Hindi. Doesn’t matter. We’re still people.

Our Final Hours in Sarasota

We had a sweet time at the festival's Cinema Tropicale celebration at the Sarasota Yacht Club last night. There were more than 400 people drinking, dancing and hula hooping (in honor of one the films, The Hooping Life). It was a great way to unwind after a crazy and thrilling couple of days. The festival organizers definitely know how to party well. Check out more pictures from the night, including the hula hoopers, here.

A huge thanks again to everyone at SFF for taking such good care of us. We're sad to be home.

Day Two at Sarasota

We had another incredible day at the Sarasota Film Festival. At 12:30 we did a spot on ABC Channel 7 with John Scalzi. (We waited in the green room with another guest, Duke the dog from the Sarasota Humane Society. Ha!) We'll post the interview clip as soon as we get our hands on it.

We also visited with students in the film program at Sarasota's Booker High School. Having already watched Brownstones, they had lots of great questions for us. And Chad, waxing academic, dropped an Orson Welles quote on them. Oh boy.

A typewriter needs only paper; a camera uses film, requires subsidiary equipment by the truck-load and several hundreds of technicians. That is always the central fact about the film-maker as opposed to any other artist: he can never afford to own his own tools.

We had our second, and final, screening at 7:15. There was a nice turnout and the crowd was very responsive. Not surprisingly, Malik had them in stitches. And after the Q&A, many people came up to us and confessed that they had tears in their eyes when the Sierra Leone kids performed the play reenacting how the rebels had killed their parents. We left feeling pretty grateful.

We also got to see an incredibly moving documentary about a man's quest to run 63 marathons over 63 days to support kids suffering from a terminal disease known as ataxia telangiectasia. Check out Feat, created by the talented couple, Deb and Brad Carr.

Audio Interview on The Insider

We were interviewed yesterday by Sarasota Film Festival's The Insider blog:

You’ve heard me RAVE about this staggeringly great and important movie, now you can listen to the co-directors and associate producer chat about it live from our filmmakers lounge at Urban Reef!

Day One at Sarasota, A Roundup

Our first day at the Sarasota Film Festival was a great success! Thanks to everyone who took the time to come to our screening last night. We have a second and (final) showing tonight at 7:15pm at the Regal 20 Cinema. Here's some of the media coverage we've gotten so far:

Sarasota Herald Tribune
There are so many things to recommend about youthFEST selection “Brownstones to Red Dirt,” it’s hard to know where to begin. So let’s concentrate on the one thing kids never do anymore: Write letters. Because this 85-minute documentary is about the power of the printed word.

A second review, Herald Tribune
Among the unintended consequences of this inaugural feature-length movie — “Brownstones to Red Dirt” — was learning how little it takes to build a school in west Africa.

NY Daily News
Brooklyn and Freetown, Sierra Leone, are 4,310 miles apart - but at one Bedford-Stuyvesant school they'll forever be connected.

Buzz Worthy
This wonderful film is both educational and enchanting as it goes back and forth between the joys and the struggles these students have in both countries.

Greetings From Sunny Sarasota!

We'll be here for the next three days to screen the documentary (and enjoy a little fun in the sun). Be sure to keep tabs on us on Twitter!

Brownstones in the Daily News!

The New York Daily News just posted a story about...us!

Brooklyn and Freetown, Sierra Leone, are 4,310 miles apart - but at one Bedford-Stuyvesant school they'll forever be connected.

That's because a pair of filmmakers captured the unlikely pen-pal friendship between a handful of sixth-graders from the Urban School for the Environment on Tompkins Ave. and a group of orphans from war-torn Sierra Leone in a new documentary called "Brownstones to Red Dirt."

Read more.

Fred's Honesty

Last week we introduced you to Emmanuel, a smart kid who has had to grow up quickly as an orphan in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Now meet his pen pal Fred, an ambitious and laid back kid from Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. When we first met Fred, we thought he was shy. He seemed so serious and quiet but once he started talking, we couldn’t stop listening. He tells it like it is.

[In Bed-Stuy] Some people fight about…money, girls, and stuff like that. Stupid things. But we don’t get involved in nothing like that.

[People] probably think, you black so you a bad little kid. Like really disrespectful cause you just black…fights all the time, curse, but it’s not true. It makes me feel like I ain’t nothing. A black piece of dirt.

I didn’t know, like, it would be that violent over there [in Sierra Leone].

That’s crazy how they don’t got the things that we got. Like medicine…to help them not to be sick and die at a young age.

He [Emmanuel] wants to be a DJ when he grows up and I like music too. First he’ll have to get a skateboard, and then I’ll teach him how to ollie.

Brownstones on The Insider Blog

Sarasota Film Festival's The Insider just posted an interview with our co-directors Dave LaMattina and Chad Walker! See it here.

INSIDER: Are these kids—from both locales—still a part of your lives?

DL: Obviously, we’ve been able to see the kids in Bed-Stuy more often–we’ve yet to go back to Salone–but they are a major part of our lives. We’ve exchanged a few letters and constantly get updates from the headmistress in Sierra Leone. We’ve also undertaken a considerable fundraising effort to benefit both groups. We’ve currently raised over $53,000 to build a school in Sierra Leone and create a school library in Bed-Stuy. I think it’s safe to say we think of them non-stop. I know Chad does–ask about his tattoo!

CW: Indeed. Before we left Sierra Leone we were all given Krio names and I had mine tattooed on my wrist. The name they gave me is Pa Sorie – which means “the one who delivers messages.” It is a reminder of not only our time in Sierra Leone, but also how much that time changed me as a person. Whenever I am having a bad day I look at that tattoo and it reminds of the kids in SaLone and how they have so much faith and hope even after the tragedies in their lives and when I think of life in those terms, my day never looks bad.

The Wisdom of Emmanuel

When we set out to make Brownstones, one of our major goals was to give these children a voice. We didn’t want to rely solely on parents or teachers or experts to tell this story. We wanted the kids’ perspectives. And they had so many important things to say.

Here are some thoughts from Emmanuel, who was rescued by Aunty Musu of the Children in Crisis school after the rebels murdered his parents. He was 14 years old when we filmed the documentary.

“When you are educated, no one can come and remove the education from your head.”

“I have to do something which is good for the people in Sierra Leone. That is the only way I think that Sierra Leone is going to be a good place in the future. For us and the children we are going to have in the future.”

“This war is not affecting the big people. It cannot affect them more than us, we the children, because they killed our mothers, they killed our fathers. We do not have parents again. So we think that this war is affecting us more than the big ones.”

“I have forgiven everybody who knows that he is guilty for my parent’s death because you have to forgive and forget.”

Progress on the New School

We’ve been working with Schools for Salone to build a new primary school for the Children in Crisis School (CIC) in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The existing building (shown left), which is made from sticks and corrugated zinc, is stifling hot in the dry months and incredibly noisy in the rainy season. Overcrowding is a major issue, as the school is used by 379 students from preschool to 6th grade.

Schools for Salone director Cindy Nofziger recently met with leaders from CIC to get the ball rolling. Our on-the-ground project manager, Joseph Lamin of the Masanga Children's Fund, is working with CIC to find the best site for construction.

We’ll keep you posted as plans progress! In the meantime, check out this e-mail we received from Aunty Musu, the director of CIC. “Ma Musu” is more than a teacher to her students – she rescued many of them after the civil war, and has been a mother to them all.

I thank you people very much for all what you have done for our children…We thank u for the things you gave to us, like notebooks for the children, football, their calendar, books for the children to read I thank you all….I am happy as far as my children have got their school building that will make them and even the community people we will be very happy. I we try to send u pictures of the children working at their school site.
much love Mamusu.

Countdown to Sarasota

Just nine days and counting until Brownstones screens at SFF! Check out the festival’s preview of Brownstones on its blog, The Insider:

Imagine you’re a kid from the projects in Brooklyn. Do you think you would have much in common with an orphan your age from the civil war-ravaged Sierra Leone?

What if it turned out that you did? And the bond you share is that no one gives either of you a chance. Then you learn that even if you can’t count on the outside world, you can count on each other!

That’s the premise of a wonderfully engaging documentary about a pen pal program between a group of youths in Bed-Stey and Sierra Leone...read more.

Brownstones in Rhode Island

Great news! Brownstones was accepted to the Rhode Island International Film Festival and its partner festival, Roving Eye Film Festival, held at Roger Williams University. We're thrilled to be a part of this!

The Roving Eye screening is Saturday, April 24 at 6:30pm. The Rhode Island IFF runs August 10-15. More on that festival soon.

Also, if you know anyone who lives or works in the area that can help us spread the word about the film, please let us know!

Postcard Art Auction: A Roundup

Thanks to everyone who helped us raise more than $26,000 from our postcard art auction, including the 158 artists and 96 donors who participated. And a special shout out to Vicki Saulls, our auction organizer extraordinaire.

You can still see some of the beautiful artwork here. The postcard above is from artist Veronique Joffre.

Along with the more than $23,000 we raised from a friends and family screening in November, we’re using every penny from the auction to build a school in Freetown with our nonprofit partner Schools for Salone. We’re also planning to create a library at the School for the Urban Environment in Bed-Stuy. More details to come!

Welcome to the Brownstones Blog!

If you’re looking for more information about our feature-length documentary, Brownstones to Red Dirt, you’ve come to the right place. We’ll be posting regularly to let you know:

*the status of the school we’re building in Freetown, Sierra Leone
*updates on the library we’re creating at a Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn school
*news from upcoming film festivals
*details on where and when you can see the movie

In the meantime, you can always contact us at info[at]copperpotpictures[dot]com.