One photographer. 160,000 forgotten children. A communist collapse. You won't look away.
Mike Carroll was one of the first photographers to travel to Romania after the fall of the communist regime in 1989. When he arrived, he walked into one of the most horrific scenes of the 20th century. His incredible photographs and heart wrenching stories of the pediatric AIDS epidemic in Romania ran in The Boston Globe and The New York Times and opened the eyes of the western world to the plight of the Romanian children. What followed was a twenty-year odyssey for Mike and his colleagues as they fought to bring help to a population of children in need, in a country that they hardly knew. "Hand Held" is a documentary film produced and directed by two-time Academy Award nominee filmmaker Don Hahn. Hahn shot in Boston, Bucharest, and Transylvania for nearly two years on this extraordinary motion picture about one guy with a camera, a band of New Englanders, 160,000 orphans, and the unforgettable story of how they changed each other's lives forever.
Cinematography
Mike's still photos hit harder than any reenactment could.
Direction
Don Hahn lets silence and suffering speak for itself.
Production
Two years filming across three countries for 85 minutes.
Director
Don Hahn
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Director Don Hahn produced 'Beauty and the Beast' and 'The Lion King' — this is his most un-Disney project ever.
Ceausescu's 1966 abortion ban created Europe's largest orphan population; the AIDS epidemic exploded because hospitals reused needles to save money.
US
