David Heard Documentary Debuts Wednesday

Cranes of Hope, a documentary about the National Crane Project and its connection to 10-year-old Easton resident David Heard, will debut Wednesday night at .

Heard, who had a rare form of cancer, was inspired by a production of a Japanese story called "A Thousand Cranes," about a girl who develops leukemia after the Hiroshima bombing and sets about trying to fold 1,000 paper cranes.

After seeing the play, Heard came up with his own idea: sending a mobile 0f 1,000 cranes to every pediatric cancer hospital in the United States.

People rallied around him, with hundreds attending crane folding parties. before reaching his goal, but his family has since collected over 70,000 paper cranes, according to a Lafayette news release.

The film was produced by the college's Nandini Sikand, an assistant professor of film and media studies. It airs at 7 p.m. in room 104 of Kirby Hall, with a discussion to follow.