Director: Erin Heidenreich Producers: Susan Saltz, Erin Heidenreich, Bristol Baughan
Description:
Plagued by roaming militias who have commonly used rape as a weapon of war, Eastern Congo has suffered the worst humanitarian crisis since WW2 with over 6 million dead since 1995. Esther and Camille Ntoto, a Congolese couple delivering aid to victims, realize that the only way to end sexual violence is through the healing and transformation of men in their community. Seeing men as the key to change, they develop an initiative called THE RISING OF THE SONS OF CONGO. This intimate yet powerful film shot in Goma, DRC gives us a glimpse into one of their revolutionary and successful programs over the course of a week.
Biography: Erin Heidenreich has helmed award-winning documentaries, short films, commercials and branded content. Her passion for stories showing alternative perspectives flows into many forms: directing a documentary in the Tribal Areas of Pakistan for Girl Unbound, directing a short documentary in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for Rising Sons. Erin 2nd Unit directed for Emmy Award-winning Doug Pray's latest documentary Levitated Mass, executive produced The Other Shore, produced Mission Congo and executive produced Made in India.
Susan Saltz is an award winning Producer, Writer and Director with a passion for illuminating the collaborative human inspiration that sometimes emerges in response to deep social and historical trauma. In addition to being Producer and Executive Producer of RISING SONS, Susan wrote and produced 'African Story Magic', (winner of the Boston Children's Film Festival), and was Associate Producer of the multi-award winning feature film 'Her Majesty', a period piece set in 1950's New Zealand. Recently Susan produced a segment for a documentary on Civil Rights Leader Ralph David Abernathy and was Director and Producer of OUT OF THE ASHES, a documentary spanning DRCongo and the US completed in 2016. Susan also serves on the Board of numerous nonprofits serving at-risk children and youth and is Co-Founder of JUNTOS. She graduated from Stanford in 1982 with BA's in Communications and American Studies.
Bristol Baughan is an executive producer of Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated films, author, and private coach. Bristol spent over ten years in the film and media business making relevant stories entertaining through film (The Power of the Game, Which Way Home, By the People: The Election of Barack Obama, Racing Dreams, Son of Rambow) at GOOD for HBO, Paramount, Showtime, and Pathe. She recently founded Inner Astronauts to support people in becoming fully alive in service to the world.
