Haitian brothers make film about joy amid devastation in homeland

The earthquake robbed Huguens Jean and Clifford Muse of the ability to fulfill a final promise to their grandfather.

Fly to Haiti, he told the brothers as cancer ate away his health, and carry my coffin, garbed in white. The color meant something. The old man wanted them to find joy, even in the sadness that accompanies death.

But the Jan. 12 earthquake that killed 230,000 and leveled Port-au-Prince made it impossible for Jean and Muse, students at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, to return for their grandfather's funeral a month after the disaster.

It did not, however, crush their desire to celebrate the man who had imbued in them a love of stories. They resolved to build a kite like the ones he had flown with them when they were boys in Port-au-Prince.

That plan quickly expanded to include a trip to Haiti, during which they would film their journey and gather stories of Haitians coping with the aftermath of the quake.

The product, an 82-minute documentary called "Lift Up," had its debut at the Haitian Embassy in Washington last month. Jean and Muse hope that, in its depiction of Haitians rejoicing despite the devastation dealt to their nation and their lives, the film evokes the spirit of their grandfather's request.

"He told us that he wanted us to celebrate his life, to find the joy," said Jean, 29, a doctoral candidate in electrical engineering at UMBC. "I had no idea what that meant until we encountered these people in Haiti. These images of life continuing on, they were very moving."

Philip Knowlton, who co-directed the film, said he'll never forget the smiles on the brothers' faces as they flew the memorial kite for their grandfather at a festival in Washington.

"They didn't fulfill their promise the way they said they would," said Knowlton, who met Jean when they co-captained the track team at UMBC. "But the way the whole journey happened, they made up for it. It was really an amazing experience to be a part of."

The plan came together in true seat-of-the-pants fashion.

Less than a month elapsed between Jean's first thoughts of the kite tribute and the brothers' return to their native city. They arrived in March with little idea of where or whom to film and with serious trepidation about whether people would talk.

Some Haitians were tired of interlopers who arrived with cameras but none of the food, water or money needed so desperately by survivors. Many others, however, staggered Jean and Muse with their tales of resilience.