Found Film

Picture a shack. Tin roof, patched wooden walls, and a tarp for a window covering. This is Natascha’s home. Her father fixes a meager meal outside over an open fire, while her brother shoos away flies from his perch on a nearby rock. Natashca is inside, hungry. She knows, as they all do, that whatever they eat that day will not be enough. It is never enough. With more than five children and expenses rising as they grow, Natascha’s parents need new ways to make ends meet. The alternative is unimaginable.

This scene is a common one in Haiti. In Natascha’s case, these circumstances lead to her becoming a restavek (“child slave” in Creole). A man promises to take one of a family’s many children to a better place—for a price. In reality, the child has just been sold into a life of slavery and everything that entails: abuse, hard labor, and isolation from safe and meaningful relationships.

This situation is the subject of the animated short film, FOUND. FOUND is a production of Connect 2 Ministries, a non-profit organization that provides a solution to child slavery. This hand-drawn, 2D animated feature takes viewers on an emotional journey, shedding light on the harsh reality faced by countless children who are thrust into slavery. Yet FOUND is not just a piece of informative storytelling; it is a call to action against the injustice of child exploitation. It is an invitation to confront the uncomfortable reality that so many children endure in silence.