Dear friends:

Thank you so much for your ongoing support for Two on the Aisle films and Wendy Strong! When I first picked up the camera to make “The Mystery of the Missing Matron”, my greatest hope was that it would screen at the LE:60 festival in Harvard Square. Not only did the short have its premiere at LE:60, but it is under consideration for several other film festivals. Its next screening will take place in Mumbai, India, as part of Passion For Cinema’s PFC:One festival of one-minute movies.

To have my short play at a festival in the hometown of director Satyajit Ray is an incredible honor. However, I cannot ignore the timing of this screening, as it happens so soon after the terrorist attacks on Mumbai in December of 2008. Since many cast members of “Missing Matron” are children or young teenagers, I’ve thought especially of the young people who live in poverty in India’s largest cities. It seems wrong to merely celebrate this upcoming screening in light of the recent attack, and the day-to-day lives of many kids the same age as my cast members.

To that end, I’d like to invite you – the cast, crew, and friends of Wendy Strong – to make a $10 donation to Hope House. This is a school/safe house that’s being built in Calcutta for children born not only into poverty but especially challenging circumstances. Directors Zana Briski and Ross Kaufmann initiated the idea for the school after making the documentary Born Into Brothels, which depicted some of the children for whom this school will be created. They currently need to raise $200,000 to make this school a reality.

I understand that early January is not a great time to start a fundraising drive, with the holidays behind us and a horrible economy ahead of us. I also know that many people who were involved with the film are students or are otherwise on fixed incomes. I purposely set the donation level low so that as many people as possible can donate. If you can’t do it, I understand, but if you have $10 lying around, this is a worthy cause. Kids With Cameras, Briski and Kaufmann’s organization, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and donations at the $10 level are tax deductible.

For more information, or to make a donation, visit their website. If you wish, you may make your donation in the name of Wendy Strong. Please let me know if you have donated.

Thanks again for your ongoing interest in my short films. I hope to see you at a screening in 2009.

Sincerely,
Chelsea Spear
Director, "The Mystery of the Missing Matron"