About the Filmmakers

Brett Anders, Director and Editor of From One Village, worked on this project during his junior and senior years at the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. He is now a student at Brown University.

Elisa Joseph Anders, Producer of From One Village, is an independent marketing and management consultant. She helps nonprofit and for-profit clients develop products and programs and plan and implement marketing strategies.

Elisa, Brett and their family have supported the Arlington Academy of Hope since its inception in 2004. In late 2007, Brett and Elisa saw the film God Grew Tired of Us, a documentary inspired by the autobiography of John Dau, a “Lost Boy” from Southern Sudan. Shortly thereafter, they saw Dau speak in Arlington, Virginia as part of a national tour to raise money for his clinics in Southern Sudan. Elisa and Brett saw in this example a great opportunity for AAH. They offered to produce a video that would tell AAH’s story and which AAH could use to raise awareness and support.

Brett had skills and experience in video production but had not taken on a project of this nature or scope. Elisa had a strong management and product/program development background but no filmmaking experience. They became a mother-and-son filmmaking team and set out to learn what they needed to produce a professional-quality video for AAH. They garnered financial support from family and friends and advice from professional filmmakers. In July 2008, they flew to Uganda with Brett’s friend Travis Triggs, their production assistant, and spent three weeks there filming this video.