A Prayer for Area 23

Official Selection:

2007 Atlanta Film Festival
2007 New Filmmakers
2007 AFI-Dallas International Film Festival
2007 Cinequest
2007 Indianapolis International Film Festival
2007 San Francisco Independent Film Festival
2006 Hollyshorts

Synopsis:

Fourteen million children are currently orphaned in the wake of the AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa. The world has left these children behind. Featuring the children of The Madalitso Orphan Care Project in Malawi, Africa, "A Prayer for Area 23" gives voice to some of those left in the wake of this global tragedy.

Filmmaker Bio:

Residing in New York City, John Alberts is a filmmaker and photographer currently pursuing a Masters in Human Rights at Harvard University. He has created a number of short films including his first narrative short film, "These Unsettling Days of Wonder", which received the Best Short Audience Award at the 29th Annual New England Film and Video Festival in 2004. John continues his ongoing work with The Pendulum Project, an organization empowering orphaned and vulnerable children in Africa who are suffering under the terrible weight of the AIDS pandemic. "A Prayer for Area 23" is a response to his findings while working on the ground in Malawi and South Africa. At present Alberts is completing his first book of photography to be released in late 2008 featuring peacemakers at the local and global level including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and others. He is also a graduate of Union Theological Seminary in New York, an affiliate of Columbia University.