The Thing That Happened
(20 minutes) Uganda/USA

Director/Producer: Andrew Walton

Description:
The Thing That Happened profiles the Hope North Secondary and Vocational School in northern Uganda. Hope North struggles on a shoestring budget to provide a home and an education for children displaced by the civil war between the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UDPF). The students are a mix of former child soldiers, orphans and the abjectly poor. Mitigating the horrific effects of the war and focusing them on their future is a monumental task.

Biography:
Since beginning his career in 1997 by directing a project for MTV, Andrew Walton has avidly pursued a humanistic style of storytelling using evocative portraiture and striking realism that captures his subjects with engaging honesty. By becoming deeply invested in the personal details of his subject’s lives he is able to find profound meaning in otherwise ordinary events. He has directed commercials, short films and internet content for some of the world’s top ad agencies and brands. In his first documentary feature, Arctic Son, an estranged father and son reunite in a remote First Nation’s community in the Arctic. The film premiered on the PBS network’s award-winning POV series in August 2007. He most recently wrote and directed an episode of the Discovery Channel’s Next World series entitled, “Future Ships.” Andrew is represented for commercial work in the US by Identity Media and in Canada by Circle Productions.

Contact Information:
Walton Films
E-mail: Andrew@waltonfilms.com
Web site: www.thethingthathappened.com