Les Enfants de L'enfer (Children of Hell)

Renaud Dumesnil, Director & Adam Kaufman, Cameraman & Editor

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Shot just days after the 2010 earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Les Enfants de L'enfer (Children of Hell) is a short documentary originally produced for TSR Television (Switzerland) that focuses on the international debate over the adoption of Haitian orphans in a post-catastrophe climate.

Les Enfants de L'enfer introduces viewers to the daily struggles of Clarence, a teacher in the displacement camps, and Lovely, a 15-year-old girl left alone to care for her two young brothers in the rubble of her home. The filmmakers also visit two orphanages where conditions are worsening by the day, and arrive on the scene as a private American organization stages an airlift of 21 young Haitians. The film raises questions about the actions of private aid groups in a climate ripe for child trafficking and exploitation.

A donation fund is currently being formed to help directly with Clarence's day-to-day work with the displaced children, many of whom have lost both parents. Right now funds are needed to provide food, water, and shelter for these children. Once these basic needs are met, donations will go towards rebuilding a school and reinstating an academic curriculum under Clarence's guidance. For more information, visit our links below, watch the interview, or click here.

Directed and Produced - Renaud Dumesnil

Associate Producer - Camille Moise

Cameraman & Editor - Adam Kaufman

Renaud Dumesnil has been a foreign correspondent for French (ARTE), Swiss (TSR), and Belgian TV for over 15 years. Based in Jerusalem for most of that time, he relocated to New York two years ago. Since then, he has collaborated with cameraman and editor Adam Kaufman on a variety of short human-interest documentaries for news magazine shows on ARTE and TSR.

Adam Kaufman is a cameraman, producer, and editor on various broadcast and web documentary-style productions for clients such as The New York Times, Travel Channel, ARTE, TSR, Current TV, Verizon Fios1, and others. His work can be seen on his website, www.adamkaufman.org.

  • Here are some aid organizations you can contact to help people in Haiti:

http://www.unicef.org

http://www.savethechildren.org

http://www.sos-childrensvillages.org

http://www.theirc.org

http://doctorswithoutborders.org

  • Screening & Benefit Performance for Haiti - Feb. 12

If you're in New York there will be a benefit screening of The Other Side of the Water with a Q&A featuring Jeremy Robins and Magali Damas, followed by a special performance by DJARARA. More information is here:

http://www.dctvny.org/events/other-side-water-screening-performance-bene...

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Click on each image for a larger view.

  • Renaud Dumesnil getting a tetanus vaccine
  • U.S. Soldiers Arrive in Haiti
  • Food distribution
  • "People were constantly looking for something to survive."
  • "There was a lump in our throat every time we crossed eyes saying what we could not tell in our reports."
  • The Point du Jour family & the filmmakers

Which story from Les Enfants de L'enfer made the most lasting impression on you?

Submitted by Mel on Wed, 02/10/2010 - 8:46am