It’s that time again! Haiti Cultural Exchange, which has made it its business to spread awareness about Haitian culture, is having its annual film festival. You should go and you should also invite your friends. Hosted by radio and TV host Carel Pedre, the festival will last for an entire week, and will feature a total of sixteen films. Why should you go? Well, why not? Here are some reasons why I think you should head on to the Third Annual Haiti Cultural Exchange Haiti Film Fest!

1. You never go anywhere.

You haven’t been to New York and would very much would like to. Or you’re in New York, but you stay home, locked up in your room all day, you might as well be in the boondocks somewhere in Kentucky. But what to do? Get out for once! And what better way to enjoy life and enjoy yourself than at the Haiti Cultural Exchange’s Haiti Film Fest!

2. It ain’t just about the music, maaan!

Yep, there’s some hip music involved. Music? Yes, music—music as in opening night headliner Ioan Delice and roots artist Sanba Zao, and DJ Hard Hittin’ Harry.

3. Films galore!

Freedom by Matthew Brown will have its New York Premiere at the festival. Written by Ella Turenne, the docupoem centers on the Haitian Revolution. Wood-Jerry Gabriel, a graduate of Cine Institute—a film school based in Jacmel, Haiti—will debut his short La Veuve (The Widow). Most of the screenings following opening night will not cost you a cent, although a donation is welcomed.

“But,” you say, “I can always catch a movie at the movie theater this weekend!”…Yeah? Could you? Yeah, you probably could, but will they be in the same caliber as the 16 aforementioned films that will be screened at the Haiti Cultural Xchange Film Fest? And if they are, will you also get the opportunity to mingle and network with other folks in the community? Speaking of which…

4. New Haitian friends!

Now kreyolicious boys and girls, you know the last time you were in a room full of Haitians was at your Miami cousin Montoya Bonquisha Jean’s communion back when you were nine. This is the perfect time to reconnect. The three F’s…films, friends, and…what’s the third F? I can’t think of it now, but saying The Three F’s sounded so catchy.

5. You will be contributing to a good cause.

Since its launch in the early 2010s, Haiti Cultural Exchange has been offering one huge cultural lesson after another with its events and poetry readings. Your admission fee will go towards its mission of promoting Haitian art, music, culture—and will assure that there’s a fourth edition of the Haiti Film Fest next year!

The Haiti Film Fest will launch on May 7th at this location:

DROM NYC
85 Avenue A
New York, New York 10009

Be there! Ooh, and also, do catch a preview of Forever Yours—scheduled to be screened on the evening of May 10th—below.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FILM FEST’S SCHEDULE

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS TO THE FESTIVAL | CLICK HERE TO READ AN INTERVIEW WITH HAITI CULTURAL XCHANGE’S FOUNDER REGINE M. ROUMAIN | CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE WEBSITE

Among the films that will be screened at this year’s edition of the Haiti Cultural Exchange Haiti Film Fest is Filmmaker Mario Delatour’s From Kiskeya to Haiti: Where Did Our Trees Go (French title: De Kiskeya a Haiti: Mais Où Sont Passés Nos Arbres). It’s like Delatour to tackle serious subjects in his films. Born in Venezuela to a Haitian couple, the Brooklyn-raised filmmaker has tackled everything from a 20th Century invasion of Haiti to Arab immigration in Haiti. Now, the Amistad Films company founder is making Haiti’s often-debated-about forest the crux of his latest work.

Kreyolicious: When did you first realize the importance of Haiti’s environment?
As one who resides in Haiti there’s not a day that goes by that you are not being confronted with one environmental issue or another. Whether its the massive amount of uncollected garbage in the streets or the spectacle of Haiti’s denuded hills, one cannot but be concern by Haiti’s environmental woes.

They are no quick fixes to Haiti’s environmental issues. Addressing the problems are indeed a tall order. Having said [that], it is not like Haiti cannot reverse the situation. Other her countries have faced equally-challenging situations, but Haiti needs to tackle those issues now as the path will be a long one.

When I was approached in 2014 by Madame Edita Vokral the-then Swiss ambassador to Haiti to do a film about Haiti’s forests, I honestly have to say that I hesitated considerably as anything related to the environment is huge and challenging. My attitude I must say was, “Ok” and then, “What”!

Kreyolicious: What was the hardest thing about making this film?
Finding the right angle and one that will hold the road is always the most difficult thing for me when I make a film. Where do you start when dealing with such a vast topic as the environment and how do you leave the viewer with a glimmer of hope when all seems so tragic.

As a rule, I like to isolate of the problem, find out the origins of the problem, how it got started, and if possible, find out who the culprits were. Of course, pointing the finger at a group of people does not solve the problem. It helps you to better understand the problem but you need to leave the viewer with a variety of solutions as to how to remedy the problem.

Mario Delatour poses with members of Haiti’s Artist’s Institute with one of Haiti’s forests in the background. Photo Credit: Marc-Henry Valmont

Kreyolicious: People want to be entertained. When you’re tackling a serious subject like this, how do you approach it?
When I went to film school many years ago in Los Angeles, one of my professors told us a story in class about a big studio boss who once told a filmmaker “If you have a message, I suggest you take it to Western Union” all of this to say that films are meant to entertain and should not be message driven. Well I wholly disagree, I feel that films can be used are a powerful educational tool. Many people came up to me after viewing my last film From Kiskeya to Haiti: where have our trees gone?? and say to me “Oh I didn’t know that, I always thought charcoal was the cause of deforestation in Haiti!

In the case of this very difficult topic, I opted to put a lot of emphasis on the historical part of deforestation. I knew that if I had done tha,t it would have captivated people’s attention. Deforestation in Haiti is not a recent phenomenon. It goes back to the colonial days, and—some might argue—before that. A man whom I credit for having taking me by the hand and guide me through this tedious process is agronomist-economist and professor Alex Bellande who wrote a very informative book on the topic entitled Haiti déforestée, Paysages Remoldelés [Deforested Haiti, Remodeled Landscapes]. In fact, the whole idea of the film to begin with was to accompany Mr. Bellande’s book.

Kreyolicious: Is this your favorite documentary so far of all the works you’ve produced as a filmmaker?
If there is one thing I have to say about this film is that I particularly enjoyed making it as I had great help from the crew, great support from the Swiss cooperation particularly from new Swiss ambassador Jean Luc Virchaux and all of my other sponsors like Lorraine Mangones of FOKAL and Mr. Carl Braun the president of Unibank. Alex Bellande who worked on the film as a consultant was a tremendous asset, a wealth of information. Writer-journalist Joel Dreyfuss offered his know-how free-of-cost as a script doctor, hugely talented Jael Auguste did a great musical score, and my editor Laurence Magloire delivered a fine film. I wouldn’t end this without saluting the work of Dolores Neptune and Dangelo who did a super job of narrating the film. So, yes, it has a special place in my heart you could say.

I strongly encourage everyone to come out and see this film at the Haiti Film Fest 2017 where it will be making its premiere in New York.

[Main Photo Credit: Dangelo Neard]

Filmmaker Mario Delatour’s film will screen on May 13 at 2 p.m. at St. Francis College | Maroney Theater |180 Remsen Street | Brooklyn, NY 11201 |

CLICK HERE to visit the Haiti Cultural Exchange website and learn more about filmmaker Mario Delatour and the other filmmakers taking part in Haiti Cultural Exchange Haiti Film Fest!

The Haiti Film Fest, presented by New York-based arts organization Haiti Cultural Exchange, will launch today Thursday May 11 and will continue through May 14. Among the films being screened on May 12, is Minutes to Say Hi, a short. Filmmaker Easmanie Michel, the screenwriter-director behind the project, took some time out of her schedule to talk more about Minutes to Say Hi.

Kreyolicious: Minutes to Say Hi your latest project came about how?
Easmanie Michel: During my last semester at NYU, I took a filmmaking class where we had to write and direct a short film. I had been writing Minutes to Say Hi as a short story about the time period when I moved to the United States with my father and my younger sister in the eighties. I decided to adapt the short story into a script. The story is about an eleven-year-old girl who is approaching puberty without her mom who was left behind in Haiti. During that year where I was separated from my mother, our only form of communication was via a pay phone. At that time, long distance phone calls were quite expensive so we could only afford to talk to her for a short period of time.

I vividly remember the recorded operator’s voice that would periodically warn us that we were running out time by announcing how many minutes we had left. In Minutes to Say Hi, I tried to capture a significant moment in a young girl’s life of adjusting to a new culture and maturity without her mother.

Kreyolicious: What’s the best thing about being part of this festival?
Easmanie Michel: The best part of Haiti Film Fest is being introduced to the Haitian filmmakers who are creating works in Haiti. I remember the first time I attended Haiti Film Fest and how I was left with an overwhelming feeling of gratitude while watching the myriad of films about Haitians living in Haiti.

I applaud Haiti Cultural Exchange for their steadfast commitment to help Haitian filmmakers and films about Haiti reach not only the Haitian audience, but also the wider community.

It is easy for filmmaking to be regarded as a frivolous activity especially when there are so many pressing needs in the Haitian community. However, it is my belief that cinema – the moving image – has an extraordinary ability to be transcendental. It can reveal perspectives on Haitian lives the that may help dismantle the stereotypical images of Haitians that constantly saturates mainstream media.

Kreyolicious: With technology changing faster your can say Minutes to Say Hi…what do you envision will happen to the film industry as a result?
Easmanie Michel: I recently attended an IFP “Meet the Decision Maker” workshop in Brooklyn where the attendees were given opportunities to speak to representative from a New York City film sales company. We were told that the company’s main initiative was specializing in director-driven work that would have a festival and theatrical run. This seemed to go against the ongoing message in the media that this strategy is being phased out. So even though digital platforms such as Netflix has become increasingly mainstream, this model will continue to exist.

Also, there seems to be a new twist to the movie viewing experience that will keep theatrical releases alive, especially with indie and experimental narratives. I recently watched a documentary at this place called Metrograph in the Lower East Side. It was a different experience than your usual movie going night since the place was comfortable and included a bookstore and a restaurant to boot. Similarly, a place in Williamsburg, Nitehawk Cinema, has the same setup. It would then seem that ambience is slowly become a key component in the indie film making structure thus making it more of an immersive experience.

As far as the business of film is concerned, I think that although filmmakers have the ability to reach a far wider audience than before with social media, etc…the amount of people creating content still makes it difficult to get independent films made without the help of larger companies, digital or otherwise who really only want to invest in films that can guarantee a profit. Of course, cultivating an audience, especially with complex or innovative stories with social media, now becomes a facet of the overall process and can be brought to the table.

I am an advocate for focus on auxiliary products. Not only can it help the filmmaker and other stakeholders make more of a profit on their film, but it also adds to the “experience” I just mentioned. Sometimes, undue attention to this part can contribute to the pitfall of lukewarm narratives, but in light of filmmakers having the power to do their own marketing, product placement and so on this opens up greater autonomy. This is all hard work in addition to the miracle of making a film. One has to weigh it out – the pros and cons, but more options are better than less.

Minutes to Say Hi by filmmaker Easmanie Michel will screen May 12 Friday, at the | Five Myles Gallery 558 St. John’s Place, Brooklyn, NY 11238 | 6:00 to 9:00pm | CLICK HERE to Visit the Haiti Cultural Exchange website to learn more!