If you do manage to make your way to Haiti… you still have to negotiate 2 hours of relentless climbing up the mountains to Fondwa (which is made infinitely more interesting if you’re on public transportation), and even then the journey is not over… because the heart of the village lies in the valley below.

But The Road to Fondwa is now taking the message of Fondwa and literally spreading it around the world!

The film has now been shown across the United States, in two cities in Australia, in Haiti, and in Brazil.

Last weekend we had our official DVD launch party in Chicago, set up by Co-director Justin Brandon and the Notre Dame Student International Business Council.

More than 60 people came to enjoy the film, and many left with a copy of our newly minted DVDs and the accompanying soundtrack.

Now that DVDs are available, we’ll be able to share Fondwa’s story with more and more people, and build more support for the positive work that is being done right now in Fondwa.

Would you like to see the film, and share it with others?  As of today, you can now order the film online, and have it sent to your door with free shipping!

Thanks to generous donors who supported the making of the film, we’re able to donate the bulk of proceeds to the University of Fondwa- so your purchase makes a real difference.

Click here to visit our order page and get your copy today!

Dan Schnorr had already lived in Fondwa for half a year when filming started, and was able to take each adventure that came our way in stride.

He has written about his experience of making the film in a gripping, behind the scenes piece written just for Fondwa.org.

He gives the details on one of the special features of the film, a first-hand account of what it’s like to visit the hospital when you live in isolation in the Haitian countryside.

You can read Danny’s full story by downloading this PDF.

Make sure to let him hear your feedback in your comments!

I sincerely hope I have just powered down Final Cut Pro (the beastly film editing software we have used to edit The Road to Fondwa) for the last time in my life.

Final Cut Pro and I have had a bit of a strained relationship.

You see, I thought I was a pretty smart guy, getting a brilliant filmmaker like Justin Brandon to come and make a film with us in Haiti.

I could be the idea guy, and the film would just “happen.”

Didn’t quite turn out that way!

Once we had over 40 hours of incredible footage from throughout Haiti, we sat down at Danny’s home in Boston to watch it through. That’s when we realized how difficult it would be for Justin to edit the film… since he doesn’t speak Haitian Creole!

95% of our footage was in a language that our editor didn’t understand.

So we took stock of the situation… and resorted to desperate measures.

Danny and I each picked up a MacBook Pro so we could use Final Cut Pro. We each learned how to use at least the remedial functions (Danny ended up really getting the hang of it), and we worked on the film as a team.

That’s why we now have a film that all three of us feel is “ours”… but Final Cut Pro still has to go!

I may ceremoniously delete it from my computer after we ship the DVD off for duplication

-Brian

It’s finally time to tell the whole “behind the scenes” story and share the film with everyone who has been waiting!

What began as little more than an idea two years ago has taken the three of us on the adventure of a lifetime, and we’re glad that you’ll be following along as we build up to the anticipated release of the film. If you haven’t done so already, you can sign up to the right to hear about new stories, video clips, and tales from behind the scenes as they’re posted here on the blog.

For right now, I’d like to share with you Justin’s view of how this all began. It hasn’t been all smooth sailing, that’s for sure… you’ll want to download Justin’s story to read all about it!

Download Justin’s tale here (.pdf)

Be sure to let him know what you think in your comments right here on the blog.

Mesi anpil,

Brian