New film series screening to aid orphanage in Congo

Local Art Action Incorporated, under the leadership of Jen Eberbach, who also works in public relations for the Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts, is working to better the lives of orphans at one orphanage in the Republic of Congo.\nFrom 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, April 19, and from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 21, LAAI will put on a film screening of several independent films to benefit the Bethesda Orphanage of Kinshasa-Ngaliema in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Donations will be collected at the door, and they will also be selling T-shirts to benefit the orphanage. \nThe film screening will feature films from several local filmmakers, including Downtime Studios, Christopher S. Potter, Clockwerk Pictures and Ryan Marino. \nThe film nights will feature three films from Christopher S. Potter, a filmmaker who moved here a few years ago from Los Angeles. The films are “Man in a White Linen Suit,” “February,” and “One,” a one-minute film. \nPotter said Eberbach contacted him through his MySpace page, and when he read how she was trying to help the Bethesda Orphanage, he decided to help. \n“It sounds like a worthy cause,” he said. “Also, it’s always exciting to have your films shown.”\nEberbach said she met the founder of the Bethesda Orphanage, Doudou Vuanda, while she was on a vacation in Amsterdam. \n“For a long time, I wanted to do some sort of charity or fundraising project that had to do with music or the arts. I was busy with school, so I was just waiting. After I graduated from the University of Michigan, I traveled with a friend and I was meeting these fabulous people, and it was a chance to network,” she said.\nEberbach said after she met Vuanda, she developed a friendship with him, and they became pen pals. Vuanda kept her updated on the status of the orphanage, and when he was looking for organizations to help with funding, she decided to help. \n“It was easier to work with someone I knew. It was almost fate,” she said. \nLAAI has already had three other events to raise money for the orphanage. The past events have been a stand-up routine at the McCalla Fine Arts Annex, a night with nine short plays, and an evening with music from the bands Puppy vs. Dyslexia and RCBNNN, a side project of the band Race Bannon.\nEberbach said the biggest challenges of creating LAAI have been researching different things like law that she didn’t know about before, and finding enough time and energy to devote to the cause.\n“Now that I’m out of school, I can concentrate on it,” she said. \nEberbach said her ultimate goal is to give as much help to the orphanage as she can, and then move on to another needy cause.\n“If I can help people, and if Bethesda can become a model for other orphanages, I think that would have far-reaching effects,” she said. \nFor more information, visit localartaction.org.