Raoul Peck: Aprés the Earthquake

(Thursday, January 22nd-Sunday, January 25th)

Curated by Michelle Materre and the Creatively Speaking Film Series

Co-sponsored by the Haiti Cultural Exchange, The DDPA (Durban Declaration & Programme of Action) Watch Group, The BDC (Black Documentary Collective), The Haitian Creole Language Institute and Harlem Karibe

(Reflecting back on Haiti’s devastating earthquake 5 years later with a look at the

documentaries and fiction verite from globally recognized and Haitian born

master filmmaker Raoul Peck. A portion of the proceeds will go to Ciné Institute, Haiti's only film school, fostering a new generation of Haitian filmmakers.)

Moloch Tropical

Raoul Peck, 2009, 107 min

Filmed in Haiti just prior to the devastating earthquake, the film takes viewers behind the closed doors of a fortress perched on the top of a distant mountain. A democratically elected President and his closest collaborators prepare for a state celebration of the 200th anniversary of the country’s independence to be attended by foreign dignitaries and heads of state. But in the city, a popular uprising is spreading. Although a fictional story set in a modern motif, one is reminded of the reign of Henri-Christophe, one of the major leaders of the Haitian revolution. The film’s location is, in fact, La Citadell Laferriere, the fortress built by Christophe, where the legend is also buried. With dialogue in Creole, French and English, the film stars two Haitian performers, well-known to U.S. audiences – actor Jimmy Jean Louis (TV’s Heroes) and singer Emmeline Michel.

Q&A with Dowoti Desir of the DDPA Watch Group and Michelle Materre.

Dowoti Désir, the Durban Declaration & Programme of Action Watch Group founder and president is a scholar, and social curator of performative and contemporary arts in public spaces. Her book: "Goud kase goud: Conjuring Memory in Spaces of the AfroAtlantic" focuses on the historic sites, monuments and memorials of the Maafa known as the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Her traveling photography exhibition, "Wòch kase wòch: Redlining a Holocaust, Memorials and the People of the AfroAtlantic, " commemorates the International Decade for People of African Descent 2015-2024.

Tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1171571

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