Premiere of Every Child Counts at Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival - L-R, Donna Mackey, Senior Manager, Bahamas Tourist Office, Florida; Paul Mockler, Cinematographer; Lynn Major, Founder and Administrator of Every Child Counts and Wendy Loten, Producer, Director of the film.
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Documentary of Bahamas School for Special Kids a hit at Film Festival
FORT
LAUDERDALE, FL - “Every
Child Counts “ the poignant and touching documentary about a school in The
Bahamas providing an educational opportunity for children with special needs, recently
premiered during the 29th Annual Fort Lauderdale International Film
Festival,
The
documentary written, produced and directed by Wendy Loten, a seasoned producer
and director, tells the story of a school in Abaco Bahamas, founded by a
resident of the community, Lynn Major.
Major
the administrator of the school, along with her husband, adopted twin boys at
the age of 3 1/2. The couple discovered that both boys had severe developmental
delays and would need special education, and because the Island did not have an
educational option for the twins, the MaJors determined to create an
option. The formation of the Special Ed
school, ECC (Every Child Counts) was the result of Lyn Major’s determined
efforts along with parents with similar needs, as well as the help of the local
Catholic church’s Reverend Stan Kolasa, St. Francis De Sales and Dr. S. Kossack,
of Florida International University.
The
documentary chronicles many of the success stories of the school including that
of children who were unable to talk, or walk and through the untiring efforts
of the volunteers and teachers are able to live much improved lives. Artistic talents and skills have been
uncovered in some of the children, others have been successfully placed in jobs
in the outside world and many of the current students even while in the midst
of developmental challenges, are expressing awesome goals for their future.
A
recurring visitor to The Bahamas since the age of 16, Canadian Wendy Loten,
expressed that she was “captured by the work at ECC”, and decided to tell the
story to introduce others to the triumph of the human heart and spirit. The
Presidentof Loten Media Inc., an independent companybased in
Burlington, Ontario, Loten has producedprogramming for every television
network in Canada. Her Awards include a Cable Ace Award nomination and
Gemini Award nomination for the NatureConnection series.
When
she decided to produce the ECC documentary, Loten called on her friend, Paul
Mockler, who has worked on hundreds of
commercial,documentary and dramatic films throughout hisextensive
35-year career. Mockler, who was already
in The Bahamas at the time, in Grand Bahama, Island, has done most of his
productions underwater, and was somewhat new to the type of documentary Loten
was asking his help with. He agreed to
work with Loten, and according to the cinematographer of the IMAX underwater
children’sadventure, “Flight of the Aquanaut”, “Working on the ECC
project was a labor of love that changed my life.”
The
carefully crafted and touching drama was well received at the Film Festival with
the inspirational drama bringing out a variety of emotions from the audience
including the immediate offer by a number of persons to begin contributing to
the ECC Program.
The
documentary is expected to be aired in The Bahamas in January of 2015.
More
information on ECC is available at http://www.everychildcountsabaco.org/home.html