Haiti earthquake: Jacmel film students document city's desperation

In this Saturday, Jan. 16, 2010 photo released by the U.S. Navy, Naval Air Crewman 2nd Class Jason Harold, of Goldsboro, N.C., transfers a young Haitian earthquake victim from a Seahawk helicopter during a medical evacuation in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Helicopters and planes also are finally reaching the port city of Jacmel, also devastated by Tuesday's 7.0 magnitude earthquake. (AP Photo/U.S. Navy, Candice Villarreal)

Sunday, five days after a massive and deadly earthquake rocked Haiti, there were glimmers of hope in the beleaguered city of Jacmel.

Some planes and helicopters began landing at the airport that serves the city of 40,000 to bring much-needed supplies and help get children out of harm’s way. Despite the passing of the much-talked-about 72-hour rescue window, people were still being pulled out alive from rubble. And the American Red Cross worked to set up a field hospital to begin providing urgent medical care following the collapse of the city’s hospital.

Images of the ruined St. Michel’s Hospital reached the world via the students of the Ciné Institute of Jacmel, who have spent the 120 hours since the magnitude 7.0 quake struck documenting not only the destruction in the city, but also the faith and hope of its people.

“We were a film school until [Tuesday],” Annie Nocenti, one of the school‘s teachers told Sphere.com. “Our new mission is to do recovery stories… Hopefully, stories of Haitians rebuilding.”

Although much of the school was badly damaged by the quake, the aspiring filmmakers that make up the students at the institute dug through the rubble to salvage equipment to begin that new mission. Of the school’s 60 schools, 59 are known to have survived the earthquake. School officials are still holding out hope that Rose-Laure Charles will be located alive and well. She was last seen Tuesday at 11 a.m., when she reportedly was heading to Port-au-Prince to see a doctor.

The images the students have recorded are among the few that have emerged from Jacmel since the earthquake and have been instrumental in focusing the attention of the media and aid organizations on the plight of people in the community. Much more could be written about their efforts here, but their own eloquent words tell it much better.