Every New Year, and in celebration of their Independence, Haitian families gather together to feast in honor of a line of ancestors that fought for their freedom. The centerpiece of the festivity is the joumou soup—a traditional soup dating back centuries ago. The joumou soup is a concretization of war and victory, oppression and emancipation, and the deeply rooted celebratory traditions of the Haitian culture.
Shot in early 2004 during the commemoration of the bicentennial of Haiti, this film offers a unique light on the last days to the presidency of Aristide, former priest of the poor became apprentice dictator. It is a reflection on the history of the first black republic in the world, a nation shared between the memory of its glorious revolution and the tragic litany of despots that have overwhelmed it since its independence.
Winodia is kicked out from her mother's house. She goes to stay at her friend's house. While there, she unexpectedly sees her boyfriend from Haiti.
Following the unexpected death of his fiancée the night before his wedding, Ralph's desire to ever love again is shattered. Then he meets Joanne. Will her love and her charm be enough for him to start living again; for good this time?
Tasked with what appears to be a simple abduction for hire, two hapless kidnappers find out that it’s anything but and end up in the middle of a political conspiracy.
In 1925, during the occupation of Haiti, a U.S. Marine Corps sergeant was stationed in charge of the small island of La Gonave. He befriended the natives and was so popular that they named him King Faustin I and installed him as their ruler. He ruled the island for three years, then left and returned to make this documentary.
A 26-year-old man becomes gravely ill and died of an unknown disease. He was clearly hexed: it’s October 1980 and we are in Haïti. Meanwhile, in Reagan's country, health authorities have decided that Haitians, Homosexuals, Hemophiliacs and Heroin users are to be part of the 4H club whose members are dying in New York City, San Francisco, and Toronto. Why put the Haitians in a separate group?
Haïti Chérie is a respond to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. A few weeks after the catastrophe Huber carries out a performance over the snowy, seemingly endless, frozen sea in Finland, waters carrying on to reach the coasts of Haiti. Snow angels drawn by Huber’s body symbolize sorrow and lives lost, but also solidarity and hope.
La Belle Vie: The Good Life takes a look into a filmmaker's journey to discover her Haitian roots by examining the complexities of the Haitian society but also chronicles her voyage to find hope in this nation on the brink of a new Haiti.
The Pierced Heart & The Machete is a vivid, unflinching exploration of two annual Vodou pilgrimages in Haiti. The first is for Èzili Danto, goddess of love, art and passion; worshipers from all over the world descend on the southwestern town of Ville-Bonheur to bathe in the sacred waterfall where Dantò resides. The second pilgrimage is for Dantòs' husband Ogoun, god of war, iron and healing. It takes place at the end of July in the northern town of Plaine du Nord, where practitioners bathe in a mud pool and make flamboyant sacrifices. This beautifully shot film offers disorienting yet illuminating glimpses of the contradictory and complementary aspects of these two lwa, the electrifying rites that honor them, and the intense music that accompanies these ecstatic and bloody ceremonies.
Set mainly in present day Dallas, Texas and Port-au-Prince, Haiti, this film features three main characters at three different stages of the same process. Supported by a nonprofit, these extremely tall teenagers come to the United States from Haiti using basketball as means to get an education and help their own country change.
First Haitian feature-length film.
Sébastien owns a book shop and has literary ambitions of his own. He befriends Joseph, an established novelist whose work he admires. But when Joseph is killed on his doorstep, Sébastien discovers a mysterious manuscript left behind. Sasha, Sébastien’s only child, witnesses Joseph’s death, and the effects run deep. She finds herself drawn to the author’s son Sidney, and starts a relationship with him. As the two grow closer, she discovers that her father is hiding something. Sidney, feeling betrayed by Sasha, threatens to expose Sébastien to get justice for his father’s memory. But his relentless pursuit for the truth leads him to uncover a tragic family secret from which he was protected… until now.
Numa Perrier reimagines the story and moments in a distinct photograph of her mother. What results is a complex merging of memory, absence, and imagery set against the backdrop of Port Au Prince, Haiti.
In this FitzPatrick's Traveltalk short, a trip to Haiti serves as a portal into its history, mainly under 19th century ruler Henri Christophe.
Young Anita's life consists of working as a servant to a wealthy family, leaving her little time for anything else. Her servitude (which some would call slavery) provides an insight into a frighteningly common experience for children in Haiti.
Zombies are part of pop culture, but what are they? Where do they come from? To find real zombies we visit Haiti where Zombies are an integral part of the island's cultural and religious roots.