What becomes of those who have been deported when they are sent back to Haiti? Rachèle Magloire and Chantal Regnault explore this in their award-winning documentary Deported.
In the first part of the article series, the two filmmakers discussed their backgrounds, how they met, and their first encounters with deportees in Haiti. Here, they discuss their work further.
What was the process like in putting together the documentary?
RACHÈLE MAGLOIRE: First, we did a lot of research to find [deportees]. In fact, we learned quickly that the “deported” love hanging out together. And so, we were able to meet a number of them. We met many officials and key persons involved in the deportation process and deportees’ integration into Haitian society through organizations defending human rights, especially the ECHR, which—at that time—led a study on the issue, in order to make recommendations to the authorities. We also took part in the rehabilitation program of the deportees led by IOM—International Organization for Immigration. Then we started to make contact with their [the deportees’] family members who lived mainly in North America. This is how we were able to follow some of the people we met, so that each of them could recount this terrible experience of deportation.
In 2008, as part of a project with the ECHR for the stigmatization of deportees in Haiti, we made a rough cut of twenty minutes. In January 2010, we finished filming. Then there was the long process of editing. Meanwhile, we showed a first draft to Raoul Peck and his production company Velvet Film. He was interested in our film, and helped us to finish it. We finished editing and post-production in July 2012.
CHANTAL REGNAULT: As Rachèle explained, the first phase of research was conducted from meetings with prisoners, one leading us to the other, allowing us to remember those who become the protagonists of the film, and also a phase of deepening our knowledge of the issue of deportation through reading materials and a series of interviews with government officials and police in Haiti as well as specialists [involved in the] migrant rights in the United States and Canada. This work has not been used since we eventually decided to make the message of the film exclusively about prisoners and their families in North America.
How are deportees viewed in Haiti?
RACHÈLE MAGLOIRE: Deportees are generally frowned upon. And as many times, the highest authorities have associated them with waves of crime in the country, it has reinforced the sense that the deported citizens are actively involved in Haiti’s criminal life. However, we must also say that if someone who is involved in a kidnapping speaks English, he is identified as a deportee, although this is not always the case. There are also people in the Diaspora who are involved in criminal networks, and aren’t deported.
CHANTAL REGNAULT: The Haitian public is generally afraid of deported criminals “made in USA” and also despise them for ruining the opportunity they had to live and work in North America. The fear of the deportees was at its height in December 2006 when the then-Prime Minister clearly linked the rise of crime in Haiti—especially kidnappings—to the presence of the deportees on national territory. We had so much research for the film.
Were you met with a lot of hesitation, when you were looking for interviewees?
RACHÈLE MAGLOIRE: On the side of the deportees themselves, not so much, except for those who had been able to integrate into society, and had managed to make people forget that they had been deported. These guys did want to talk on camera. But in most cases, the individuals who appeared in the documentary film generously shared their experiences—and it was usually quite painful. Also, it was more difficult to get women to talk, but there are nonetheless women deportees—even if they are less in number than the men.
CHANTAL REGNAULT: In the case of deportees with a criminal past, it wasn’t everyone who agreed to participate in the film. We had to rely on our personal contacts and the trust we earned with some. As pointed out by Rachèle, those who were able to integrate [in Haitian society] did not want to re-assume the identity of a deportee given the aura of stigma that surrounds them; it was the same with those with criminal records in Haiti and that for obvious reasons.
Do you think the view of deportees will change?
RACHÈLE MAGLOIRE: Definitely, I think that our film can help change the perception of the deportees in Haiti, and elsewhere, because you know that deportations are done in all countries from the United States and Canada. In the case of the United States, the most massive deportations are to the countries of Central America and the Caribbean.
CHANTAL REGNAULT: I agree with Rachèle about the impact that our film can have on the perception that the public has of Haitian deportees. Screenings in Port-au-Prince at Fokal and in Jacmel at Place d’Armes in December 2012 and again in Fokal in March 2013, have already proved that. It was a great moment when the lights were turned back on and members of the audience found themselves face to face with the film’s protagonists in the flesh! A passionate dialogue that could not stop got started.
[Photos: Furnished by Chantal Regnault and Rachèle Magloire.]
This is the second part in the series of article on the documentary Deported. Be sure to look out for Part 3. And do visit the PAGE FOR THE DEPORTED DOCUMENTARY and the filmmakers’ website
