HEATHER HAYNES
The Common Thread
The Challenge
Heather Haynes is a Kingston-based painter whose work changed permanently after a chance meeting in Rwanda led her to the Democratic Republic of Congo, the children of Goma, and a decade of work she's been trying to bring the world into ever since.
The story is heavy to carry. Every time she told in gallery settings, shared it with donors, or collectors, she was the one who had to carry it. She came to us because she needed somewhere for the story to live outside of her. A film that could be felt in a room without her having to stand in it and explain herself again.
Our Approach
We built the film around a blank 18-foot canvas.
In our research phase, as we explored and understood her story, Heather felt connected to the women she met in Goma at the Tchukudu Kids Home. That connection, and a specific photograph, inspired the painting.
So, we spent 8 days in the studio with Heather over a 6-week period. We got access to DRC footage, images she hadn't seen since the trip, and let her encounter them again in real time. The film doesn't explain the crisis. It shows you what it does to her when she remembers it.
Since the film, Heather has hosted dozens of screenings and exhibited across galleries in Ontario and North America. The film travels with the work and does what she can't do alone in every room.
BTS
Recognition
Awards
Silver Telly — Telly Awards, Non-Broadcast: Short Form Documentary
Silver Telly — Telly Awards, Craft: Cinematography
Festival Selections
Kingston Canadian Film Festival
Nickel Independent Film Festival
36th Annual Edmonton International Film Festival
San Diego International Film Festival
Behind the Story
This interview took four hours. But the setup took seven days.
Before asking Heather a single question on camera, we spent seven days, six to ten-hour days, eating lunch together, working in silence when she needed silence. We wanted to know the story before we filmed the story.
When the interview came, Taylor was running projections in real time, cueing footage on the walls around her based on where the conversation was going. Heather hadn't seen any of it in year, and didn’t know what we’d show her.
When the images appeared around her, she was genuinely taken back to those moments. That's what you feel watching her. It's not performance. She's actually there.
The instinct behind it is simple: the best interviews don't happen in front of a camera. They happen when someone trusts you enough to stop performing. We just figured out a way to build that trust before we ever pressed record.
Support the Work
Heather's encounter with Kizungu Hubert and the women and children of Goma didn't end with the film. It became the foundation for Wall of Courage — an 80-panel touring installation, 40 feet wide by 12 feet high, that has raised funds for education and healthcare in communities around Goma. In 2018, Heather formalized the work by founding The Art of Courage, a Canadian registered non-profit.
The current goal is to build three additional classrooms at The Jonathan Holiday School in Goma.
If the film moves you, the work continues.
Featuring:
Heather Haynes
Director/Producer:
Braden Dragomir
Assistant Director:
Mickayla Pyke
Cinematography:
Brody McMaster & Braden Dragomir
Location Audio:
Jonas Bonnetta
Editor, Projectionist, & Sound Design:
Taylor Leeder
Sound Mix and Master:
Jonas Bonetta/Port William Sound
Story Consultant:
Msenwa Oliver Mweneake
Carpentry/Art Hanging:
Jeff Montgomery
Music Supervision:
Marmoset
Project Manager:
Laura Hardin
Music Supervisor:
Jamie McMullen
Creative Coordinator:
Clancy Magnuson
Colour:
theVanity
Colourist:
Brock Cruess
Executive Producer:
Stephanie Pennington
Junior Producer:
Nicole Labbe
Additional Footage:
Mark Punga (Congo + Archival Wall of Courage)
