Letters From Litein by Matt Palmer

PDF Courtesy of Avenue Magazine www.avenuemagazine.ca

Watch for the Special Presentation of 'Letters from Litein'.
CANADA, 121 MIN.
Director: Matt Palmer Producers: Matt Palmer, Petros Danabassis, Kaari M. Autry Cinematographers: Lisa Fryklund, Courtney Forster, Matt Palmer Editor: Bridget Durnford Music: Dave Horrocks

“It takes a community to raise a child,” or so the saying goes. In Letters from Litein, a community of children from Fred Seymour Elementary School in Calgary, Alberta, reach out to a community of children at an orphanage in Litein, Kenya through the gift of song. This endeavour began with the school’s global citizenship initiative, and a fortuitous series of events led to a fundraising project entitled Keeping the Circle Strong, whereby students and their families raised funds through silent auctions, student presentations to corporate Calgary, and sales of a 15-track CD recorded with the children’s choir from an orphanage in Africa. The goal was to raise $50,000 for the orphanage and the children surpassed their goal.

Calgary filmmaker Matt Palmer (Paydirt) chronicled the children’s trip to Kenya and recorded their eye-opening experience. The film poignantly expresses how social barriers quickly evaporate through the universality of music. As the filmmaker noted, “This film is the story about the journey of a group of ordinary students, teachers, and parents who learned that what they give of themselves made a difference to people in Africa.”



For more information on the film and to read Matt Palmer's filmmaker blog click here, www.lettersfromlitein.com