On Wings of Hope, a short doc by Pascal Depuhl

 

 

Saw a great short doc last night by Pascal Depuhl,  a professional photographer who is adding video to his skillset. His first doc is On Wings of Hope, which tells the story of the people of Pactec, a humanitarian organization that provides "plane taxis" to people from aide organizations working in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan has large areas that are fairly impassable in winter, which makes the services Pactec provides indispensable to many, especially the little Afghan boy who was hit by a motorcycle and needed to be flown over a snowy mountain range to Kabul where he could get the brain surgery he needed to survive.

Depuhl's friend Daniel was at the screening. Daniel stars in the film. He's the chief pilot for Pactec and its head of security. He brought the thirty seven year-old plane from Afghanistan to Fort Lauderdale for a much needed upgrade and refurbishment, which enabled Depuhl to premiere his film in a private airplane hangar at the Fort Lauderdale Executive airport, right next to the plane!

 

Bernier, Alison & DanielBernier, Alison & Daniel

The event brought all sorts of people out to the Executive Airport, from actresses to photographers to filmmakers. Like Troy Bernier, the star of the documentary Journey to Planet X

Depuhl's RigDepuhl's Rig

Depuhl also had his rig on display. If you want to know more about how he put it together, you can take one of his classes on April 15th at the same airport. He'll be showing the film again there too.

Unfortunately, the Pactec plane will already be off on the 5-leg trip back to Afghanistan and its noble work. But for a few minutes we got to sit in the executive seat.