Gerard Butler directs Nativity play in Haiti

This endearing video is part of a scene from Love Reaches Everywhere (2020), our documentary about Mary's Meals, featuring Gerard Butler.

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When our Scottish friend Magnus Macfarlane-Barrow asked us to join him and actor Gerard Butler on a trip to Haiti, we jumped at the chance. Well, actually we flew!

Our mission: to document the work that Mary's Meals is doing in Haiti and create a series of online videos to help this amazing charity feed even more children around the world.

We have a special place in our heart for this charity, the story of which is part of our next feature-length documentary Cross Mountain, because Magnus was inspired to start Mary's Meals through his experiences in Medjugorje.

Amazingly, the charity now feeds over a million impoverished children around the world every day, and it costs less than $20 to feed a child for an entire year.

Naturally, Stella Mar Films was excited to have the opportunity to document their work in Haiti.

Three of us went: Sean Bloomfield, Cimela Kidonakis, and Jozo Ivankovic, who traveled all the way from Medjugorje to lend his expert camera work and drone skills to the project.

Since the trip took place just before the holidays, the first video we released in the series had a Thanksgiving theme (see it here).

Now we're excited to release one with a Christmas theme. In the video below, you'll see Hollywood actor Gerard Butler directing a school Nativity play.

It was a fun experience for all of us to see the play come together and to spend time working with these beautiful children.

"It was way more than charming," Gerard said when we interviewed him after the play. "They were magnificent and give you so much more than you give them."

A funny anecdote: Sean wrote the nativity play for the kids to perform and tried to make it "short and sweet" so as not to burden the school too much. But Gerard is used to working with feature-length scripts, so he playfully teased Sean about "writing the shortest play ever." Well, Gerry, we guess that means you have officially directed the shortest play ever! 

In the end, like all of us, Gerard was thrilled with how it turned out. And next time, he hopes they'll perform Shakespeare!

Gerard Butler directs school Nativity play! from Stella Mar Films on Vimeo.

 We hope that after watching the video, you'll be inspired to make a donation to Mary's Meals.