Sure to be among the highlights of the Bermuda Documentary Film Festival are two home-grown films: ‘In the Hour of Victory’ by Lucinda Spurling and ‘Haiti Village Health’ by Robert Zuill. Both films are to make their debut amid a selection of award-winning international documentaries scheduled to screen next week.When Lucinda Spurling first considered making a film about a book of Bermudian war letters, she thought she wouldn’t be able to make a full-length movie on the topic — by the end of the project she was struggling to condense it all.Ms Spurling serves as co-director of ‘In The Hour of Victory’ with Andrew Kirkpatrick. Her previous films include ‘The Lion and the Mouse’ and ‘Rare Bird’.This latest film is based on the book ‘In the Hour of Victory’ by former Police Commissioner Senator Jonathan Smith.It is the story of Mr Smith’s grandfather, Major Anthony (Toby) Smith, who fought for the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps (BVRC) — a forerunner of today’s Bermuda Regiment — and the Lincolnshire Regiment. He was killed in action in Holland on October 14, 1944. The book is based on his original 300 letters, cards and telegrams and includes additional research conducted by Sen Smith.“I thought it was a fascinating story, but I didn’t think I could sustain more than 30 minutes,” said Ms Spurling. “That was before I read all the letters. Because so much happened we had to give it the proper context and it ended up doubling in length. I was thinking 60 minutes and it turned into 80 minutes in length.”The title ‘In the Hour of Victory’ was taken from one of the condolence of letters that was sent to Major Smith’s family after his death. A fellow soldier wrote, “ ... it seems so sad he was killed in the hour of his company’s victory”.“I think it is poignant because he served for four years and was instructor in England for many of those years and was desperate to see action,” said Ms Spurling. “He did go to Europe to experience combat. He died when they were advancing towards Germany, at a point in his life when he was making plans with his wife, Faith, and family about what they were going to do after the war. Throughout the story, there is a tension between his responsibility for his family and his sense of duty and responsibility to the greater cause.”Ms Spurling said they expect interest in the film to be wider than just Bermuda, and they intend to send the film to international film festivals and broadcast channels in the United States. They will also produce a DVD and plan to hold another screening on April 27, once Bermuda Docs is completed.“I think people will be really moved,” she said. “We have been working on it for the last year. When we saw it put together it almost brought us to tears. It is really moving. You can really identify with it. It really takes you back into that time because he was very articulate and very emotional.”One of her challenges during the production of the film was that she had a baby during the making of it. Her daughter, Eva, was born in December. Little Eva plays the Smiths’ youngest son, Winston, who was born after Major Smith left for England.“Andrew Kirkpatrick who works with me, had to take a huge amount of responsibility,” she said. “However, I was surprised by how much I have been able to do with Eva. Luckily, all the recreations were silent so I could have the baby on set. I have a lot of family support.”Another challenge was that much of the storyline takes place out of Bermuda, so palm trees in the background were not going to work. Part of the film was shot on the Yorkshire moors in England.“The Bermuda Regiment was very kind to us,” she said. “We did do a lot of filming at Warwick Camp, but we couldn’t do everything in Bermuda. He died in Holland. Any time you make a film with recreations it is a challenge and you end up calling in every favour that you have with friends and relatives and strangers. It is a huge team effort.”‘In The Hour of Victory’ will screen next Saturday, April 21 at 7pm at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration. The April 27 screening also takes place at the BUEI, at 8pm.Filmmaker Robert Zuill believes that so many people in Haiti are stricken by dire poverty that small improvements can make a big difference.One such “small” change might be the Haiti Village Health programme sent up in Baslimbe, Haiti by King Edward VII Memorial Emergency doctor Tiffany Keenan. Since its inception, the programme has helped thousands of people living in rural Baslimbe and the surrounding environs. Bermudians have donated more than $30,000 to the project, which works to improve general healthcare, sanitation and hygiene and control disease in the area.Last year, Mr Zuill travelled to Baslimbe, to make his 17-minute short film called ‘Haiti Village Health’. Mr Zuill has worked for CNN and in American public broadcasting. He has made several other similar films including one for a Kabul water project.“Haiti was pretty much what I thought it would be,” said Mr Zuill. “Baslimbe is a very rudimentary sort of place. It is very simple. There is not a lot of electricity. We lived in communal dorms. Getting there was complicated. It is easy enough getting to Port Au Prince but getting from there up to the North was complicated. Port Au Prince was still in bad shape when I was there, after suffering an earthquake in 2010. Then going to the north you take a plane and then you have to drive to a river to go the rest of the way because the road is so bad to get up to Baslimbe.”He said one of the biggest challenges to making the film was finding the time to edit it, especially since he was renovating his house at the time.“I enjoyed doing the whole thing though,” he said. “For me the rewards were that the images were so beautiful. I hope that the video will actually make a difference.”Dr Keenan will be available for a question-and-answer session after the film. ‘Haiti Village Health’ will screen at the BUEI on Friday, April 21 at 2pm, before the showing of ‘The Island President’.Useful website: www.robertzuill.com .