Huguens Jean, '03, '11, Ph.D., electrical engineering, and Clifford Muse '11, information systems, returned to Haiti in March 2010, after the devastating January earthquake, to fulfill their grandfather's last request of them. As he was dying of cancer, he asked that at his funeral they celebrate his life and "find the joy." "I had no idea what that meant until we encountered these people in Haiti," said Jean, "These images of life continuing on."
The brothers missed their grandfather's funeral when the earthquake made travel to Port-au-Prince impossible, but they resolved to find a way to honor his memory. The new documentary film Lift Up," co-directed by Jean and UMBC alumnus Philip Knowlton, records their journey back home.
The film will be screened at 8:00pm this on Thursday January 27 in the UMBC Commons Skylight room. Admission is free.