HCX is proud to announce the Third Biennial Haiti Film Fest scheduled for May 8 through May 15 at venues around the city and kicking off with the Haiti Film Fest Opening Night on Thursday, May 7 at DROM NYC.
This year's festival is hosted by Haitian radio personality Carel Pedre of CHOKARELLA, featuring short films Freedom by Matthew Brown and La Veuve by Wood-Jerry Gabriel, with performances by Sanba Zao of Lakou Mizik and Ioan Delice, New York's newest and hottest underground rap artist.
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS TO OPENING NIGHT!
All screenings will be followed by discussions with filmmakers, actors, and scholars.
$10 suggested donation for film screenings. Seating is limited. First come first serve.
Friday, May 8 | The City College of New York
North Academic Center (NAC) Rm 0/201
138 Convent Ave | New York, NY | 6-9:30pm
Click here to RSVP | Map
Ayiti Toma by Joseph Hillel | 6:30pm
2013, 83 Minutes/ French with English subtitles/ Documentary
Beyond the country known for its misfortunes and surviving numerous natural disasters, lays "Ayiti Toma", the "country that is ours." It is this less well-known Ayiti that we discover through the testimony of Haitians, politicians, intellectuals, practitioners of vodou, young survivors from a hard-hit neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, and the enlightening input of anthropologists, historians and friends of Ayiti.
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Saturday, May 9 | Brooklyn Public Library
Dweck Center for Contemporary Culture
10 Grand Army Plaza | Brooklyn, NY | 1-6pm
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Black Dawn by Robin Lloyd and Doreen Kraft | 1:30pm
1979, 20 Minutes/ English/ Animation
A captivating introduction to Haiti's early history, culture, rich folklore, and religion. Using various animation techniques, the filmmakers transform paintings by prominent Haitian artists into a visually exquisite tribute to the first Black republic — and second independent country in the New World. Featuring hypnotic Afro-Caribbean rhythms, this award-winning film conveys a complex social movement through visual language.
Port-au-Prince Mon Seul et Unique Amour by Arnold Antonin | 2:00pm
2014, 52 Minutes/ French & Kreyòl with subtitles
Documentary
New York Premiere
Georges Corvington had one single passion in his life:Port-au-Prince; and patiently tried to decode its DNA. Buried under the rubble for hours during the 2010 earthquake, he came out alive, but never recovered from the loss of his library.
In the Eye of the Spiral by Eve Blouin and Raynald Leconte | 4:00pm
2014, 72 Minutes/ English & French/ Documentary
Spiralism is a new artistic and philosophical movement born in Haiti. It spreads across all the arts and touches life, spirituality (including Vodou and African ancestry), even politics. Narrated by the poised and compelling voice of Annie Lenox, this documentary presents a new side of Haiti through the voices of some of its most successful native artists.
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Sunday, May 10 | St. Francis College | Founders Hall
180 Remsen Street | Brooklyn, NY | Noon-7pm
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**Special Mother's Day Reception | 6-7pm**
Forever Yours by Patrick Ulysse | 1:00pm
2015, 90 Minutes/ English/ Romantic Comedy
Special Preview Screening
A man thinks he's found the woman of his dreams until he discovers someone else already had the same idea.
Donoma by Djinn Carrénard | 3:30pm
2012, 133 Minutes/ French with English subtitles/ Drama
This feature film, the Director's first, follows the amorous entanglements of various young Parisians, as they cope with issues of class, religion and identity.
La Belle Vie: The Good Life by Rachelle Salnave | 7:30pm
2014, 62 Minutes/ English, Kreyòl, French with English subtitles
Documentary
New York Premiere
In this story of self-discovery, Haitian-American filmmaker Rachelle Salnave ventures to confront the grace, and the unseemliness of her native ideologies. This film documents her desire to find people who manage to share similar identityissues and turn love for their country into positive change.
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Monday, May 11th | Kraine's Theater
An Evening of Shorts
85 E 4th Street | New York, NY | 6-8:30pm
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Freedom by Matthew Brown
2013, 4 Minutes/ English/ Docu-Poem
Freedom is a docu-poem, which reminds us of the rich history and legacy of Haiti and the Haitian revolution. It is a visual and aural revolution that explores the idea of freedom. Using Ella Turenne's poem "Freedom", M. Brown has expanded on the idea of emancipation by creating a true conversation between the two artists as a bridge between reality and disbelief.
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Le Fléau / INVASIONby Gasner François
2014, 15 Minutes/ Kreyòl with English subtitles/ Documentary
All over Haiti, a silent affliction is attacking water sources, ditches, habitats, and nature itself. Plastic bottles and plastic waste in general are increasingly visible, everywhere. More and more, the population is becoming aware of this terrible trend and is taking action to stop the invasion.
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La Veuve by Wood-Jerry Gabriel
2014, 11 Minutes/ Fiction
After the funeral of her husband, Martha was consumed with grief and gradually sinks into the abyss of his memories. This huge loss weakens and pushes her step by step away from reality, causing her to explore the limits of madness.
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Les Heritiers by Marc Henry Valmond
2014, 9 Minutes/ Kreyòl with English subtitles/ Fiction
New York Premiere
Youyou and Mirando claim to be rightful successors of Simon Bolivar's home. With the help of a young boy, the rightful heir will come to light.
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Papa Machete by Jonathan David Kane
2014, 10 Minutes/ Kreyòl with English subtitles
Short Film/Action
This film introduces viewers to the esoteric martial art of machete fencing that evolved from the Haitian Revolution through the practice and life of 'Professor' Alfred Avril, a poor, aging farmer who is one of the art's few remaining masters.
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Tuesday, May 12 | Brooklyn Historical Society
128 Pierrepont Street | Brooklyn, NY | 6-9pm
*Admission: $5.00 | Click here to purchase tickets
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Haitian Corner by Raoul Peck | 6:30pm
1988, 100 Minutes/ Kreyòl with English subtitles
Drama
Patrick Bossuet often visits the "Haitian Corner" bookstore in New York, frequented by many exiles who also fled President François Duvalier's dictatorial regime in Haiti. One day he thinks he recognizes one of his torturers plunging him back into a past that he was trying to forget. Now his sole purpose is to find his torturer and have his revenge.
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Wednesday, May 13th | Maysles Cinema
343 Malcolm X Blvd | New York, NY | 6-8:30pm
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Reembarque / Reshipment by Gloria Rolando | 6:30pm
2014, 58 Minutes/ Spanish with English subtitles
Documentary
The voices of prominent historians join the memories of Haitians and their descendants in Cuba to understand a chapter of the complex economic and social history of the Caribbean: the presence in the Island of Cuba of thousands of West Indian laborers, especially from Haiti.
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Thursday, May 14th | Central Library: Queens Library
89-11 Merrick Boulevard | Jamaica, NY | 5:30-8:30pm
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Lakay by Tirf Alexius and Remoh Romeo | 6:00pm
2014, 83 Minutes/ English, Kreyòl with English subtitles
Documentary
After the 2010 earthquake, Haiti is in ruins, towns are destroyed, and families have been displaced. Lakay tells the story of two brothers, Alexius & Romeo, who are on a mission to locate and find their loved ones. Drawn back to Haiti by the devastation, these filmmakers reveal the tragedy caused by this natural disaster from an intimate & personal perspective.
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Friday, May 15th | FiveMyles Gallery
Closing Night Reception
558 St. Johns Place | Brooklyn, NY | 5:30-10:00pm
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Storming Papa Doc by Mario Delatour | 6:30pm
2014, 90 Minutes/ English/ Documentary
New York Premiere
On July 28 1958, three ex-haitian army officers exiled in south Florida make a landing in Délugé a coastal area north of Haiti's capital Port au Prince. The objective is the removal of newly elected Haitian president Dr. François Duvalier which changed the course of Haiti's contemporary history.
