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Haitian cinema includes the films and filmmakers of Haiti. The Haitian diaspora is active in the industry. Oppressive dictators and economic struggles have limited production. [1]
On December 14, 1899, Joseph Filippi, a representative of the Lumiere cinema, made the first public screening at the Petit Séminaire while visiting the island. The next day he filmed a fire in Port-au-Prince. Films from the period of U.S. occupation of Haiti (1915–34) are in the Library of Congress; these depict Marines and official ceremonies. Other early movies filmed in Haiti depicting health care, agriculture, and scenes of social life (particularly carnival) are also in the Library of Congress and the Pathé-Ciné Library.
The first continuous film showings, after the visit of the Lumière brothers' representative, took place starting in 1907 at the Pétion-Ville Grand Hotel, and then starting in 1914 at the Parisiana located in Port-au-Prince's Champ de Mars. The Parisian was the first major cinema and theater (500 seats) which existed in the country. In 1933, the Eden Cinema opened in Cap-Haïtien. The Paramount in Port-au-Prince opened the following year, and the Rex Theater in 1935.
Radio pioneer Ricardo Widmaïer was also involved in Haitian cinema, and in the early 1950s he made newsreels that were filmed at the Paramount Cinema. In his laboratory in Port-au-Prince, he developed his 16 mm films in black and white and in color. He produced the film Moi, je suis belle with Edouard Guilbaud. Jean Dominique, the screenwriter, also lent his voice to the narration. The sound was done by Herby Widmaier who was then only 15 years old.
Although there is limited research and accurate information on Haiti's film history, several variety films were made before François Duvalier's ascendance in 1957. Emmanuel and Edouard Guilbaud made many films on political events and athletes, often under the direction of Ricardo Widmaier.
The historiography of Haitian cinema is very limited. It consists only one double issue of the journal of the French Institute of Haiti Conjonction, released in 1983, devoted to film; a book by Arnold Antonin, published during the same year, entitled Matériel pour une préhistoire du cinéma haïtien ("Material for a prehistory of Haitian cinema"); and an article by the same author in the 1981 book Cinéma de l’Amérique latine (Cinema of Latin America) by Guy Hennebel and Alfonso Gumucio Dagrón.
Local film production is limited, but Haitians go to the movies. In the 1960s, viewers had the choice of films produced by Italian and French directors. Over time and despite occasional shows by the French Institute, Hollywood cinema has taken over Haitian movie screens.
Throughout the Duvalier regime, strict surveillance was exercised over films, lest they convey revolutionary ideas. For example, Luis Buñuel's La fièvre monte à El Pao (Fever mounts in El Pao) was quickly removed from cinemas. At that time, westerns and films inspired by Chinese martial arts were the most frequent choices available to the public.
In the 1980s, the Maxence Elisée group appeared in the Haitian film market. This corporation has allowed the Caribbean Haitian public access to popular films made in France and French versions of American films. This group (now Leisure Ltd) dominates the distribution and exhibition of cinema and Haiti has the most theaters in the country, including the three largest, the Imperial (5 screens), the Capitol (4 screens), the Rex Theater and the Paramount.
During the Duvalier dictatorship, there was little film production within the country. This was largely caused by the country's extreme poverty and the technological and financial constraints of film production.
In the 28 years of the Duvalier dictatorship, only four films were produced. The first was the 1976 short film Map paly net by Raphael Stines, a Creole version of Jean Cocteau's Le bel indifférent . The second was Olivia, a 1977 feature film by Bob Lemoine. The third was Rasul Labuchin's 1980 film Anita, which was very successful thanks to the short-lived "Ciné-Club" Point-de-Vue (Point of View). Olivia was shot on 35mm film, and the other two on 16mm. In 1980 the first Creole-language feature film "A la mise pou Rodrig" was released nationwide featuring singer Rodrigue Milien, written, directed and produced by Claude L.C. Mancuso: shot on 16mm and blown up to 35 millimeters.
Many films have been made now since the fall of Duvalier, many of them by Haitian filmmaker Arnold Antonin.
In the diaspora, there is a forceful cinema of denunciation and struggle against dictatorships and repression. Arnold Antonin is known for his documentary films, including Les Duvalier sur le banc des accusés (1973, 25mm, black and white) and Haïti le chemin de la liberté (1974, 120 mm, feature, black and white). The latter film, sponsored by the magazine Les Cahiers du Cinéma, elevated Haitian film to an international level and is still viewed as a cult film. Arnold Antonin's other films include:
Also of note is Paul Arcelin's feature-length documentary Canne amère (16mm, color), filmed in 1975 and released in 1983.
At the fall of Duvalier, a new activist cinema emerged. It no longer consists exclusively of documentaries but also includes dramatic films, like those of Raoul Peck, whose movies include:
The semi-biographical film Lumumba was successfully released in Africa and the United States.
Other notable[ citation needed ] films include:
The Haitian filmmaker Roland Paret, who lives in Canada, has also directed many short films on various topics. In Paris, Michèle Lemoine and Elsie Hass are also notable. Most Haitian movies are made by directors of Haitian nationality or origin, but they are often financed by foreigners.
Haitian filmmakers making a name for themselves in Hollywood include Jean-Claude La Marre, director of Trapped: Haitian Nights , and award-winning filmmaker Romane Antoine Simon who Directed Many films such as I am not for sale the fight to end Human Trafficking, Blood Runs Thick, Hybristophilia Romane Simon is also the author for the best selling novel red to black The power of love. [2]
The creation and production of images in the social and economic conditions of Haiti often find a way into the media light, especially in video. Independent producers, next to the television, which continues to produce very little, make shooting in video, feature films and documentaries in a number that far exceeds the film itself.
Arnold Antonin himself since his return in 1986, in a first period that has made corporate videos and educational, except for a short film about Port-au-Prince, entitled The Third World War has already occurred (1996). From 1999, he started with the Center team Petion-Bolivar, whose Oldy August (camera and editing) and Mathieu Painvier, production assistant, in conducting a series of documentary portraits of workers in lower classes country's small museums and personal emblematic figures of Haitian art as Tiga, Cédor Albert Mangonès, Andre Pierre, Patrick Vilaire, Marithou. From a story by Gary Victor, he adapted the satirical film Piwouli and zenglendo in 2001.
Videographers work as producers or as camera operators and editors. Some of them also work as directors. It should be mentioned among them names like; Mario Delatour Jean Fabius, Richard J. Arens, Claude Mancuso, Jean-Pierre Grasset, Richard Senecal, Rachel Magloire, Patrick Barth, Karl Lafontant, Romane Simon, Guy Cantave, Laurence Magloire, Jean Claude Bourjoly Camille Moses said Kharmeliaud etc.
Jean-Gardy Bien-Aime, include:
Frederick Surprised:
It may also include a video produced by Raphael Stines, Kraze Lanfa with an actor in the popular farce "Jessifra. This actor is a hugely popular with the public for his imitation of the accent considered colorful by those who live in the north of Haiti. Videos of his theatrical works—filmed without any attention to shooting or editing—have found unbeatable success, especially in the diaspora.
Raphael Stines was also the director of a television series entitled Pè Toma and Bouqui nan Paradi, from part of Fouche. Mention also the fear of loving and Reginald Lubin Barricades Richard Senecal.
There is weak artistic and technical preparation in the Haitian film industry. Most technicians and artists, including actors, learned on the job. They are forced to solve technical problems, instead of dealing with creative problems. Professionalism is virtually absent. There is no Haitian legislation on cinema, and the state has shown no interest in film production.
There is only one film school in Haiti, the Ciné Institute. [3]
In 2000 the Haitian filmmakers association was created with the most prominent filmmakers living in Haiti at the time and was presided first by Claude L.C. Mancuso and then by Arnold Antonin.
The Motion Picture Association of Haiti (MPAH) was founded in 2007 by Hans Patrick Domercant. Once a year, it invites various businesspeople, civic leaders, renowned Haitian actors, and Hollywood actors of Haitian descent to celebrate the advancement and past achievements of the Haitian movie industry.
Among the 2014 MPAH attendees were famous Haitian actors Bos Macel, Gracié, Frederik, and Papa Piè, Haitian-American filmmaker Hugues Gentillon, and Hollywood actor Cody Walker. [4] [5]
Many foreign films—both documentaries and dramatic works—have been made about Haiti. These include The Divine Horsemen, The Living Gods of Haiti (1963) by Maya Deyren and Les comédiens (The comedians) (1965) by Peter Glenville (British production), based on the novel by Graham Greene.The Golden Mistress( 1954) directed by Abner Biberman.
Films by the Cuban Institute of Art and Cinematographic Industry (ICAIC):
Documentaries on Haiti have been made by foreign directors including Jean-Marie Drot, Charles Najmann, Jonathan Demme, Rudy Stern, Kareen Kramer, Jorgen Leth, Jean-Daniel Lafond, Yves Langlois and Gerard Lechêne.
The Motion Picture Association of Haiti (MPAH) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2007 by Hans Patrick Domercant to support the Haitian Movie industry. MPAH established an annual Haiti Movie Awards event honoring and celebrating Haitian filmmakers and actors. Among MPAH past honorees and guests are Hollywood actor Cody Walker and Hollywood actor Jimmy Jean-Louis.
French cinema consists of the film industry and its film productions, whether made within the nation of France or by French film production companies abroad. It is the oldest and largest precursor of national cinemas in Europe; with primary influence also on the creation of national cinemas in Asia.
Jean Rouch was a French filmmaker and anthropologist.
Claude Jutra was a Canadian actor, film director, and screenwriter.
Serge Daney was a French movie critic. He was a major figure of Cahiers du cinéma which he co-edited in the late 1970s. He also wrote extensively about films, television, and society in the newspaper Libération and founded the quarterly review Trafic shortly before his death. Highly regarded in French and European film criticism circles, his work, remained little known to English-speaking audiences until recent translations. A first book-long interview, Postcards from the Cinema, was published in 2007 and a collection of his writings prior to 1982, The Cinema House and the World, was published in 2022.
Jean Léopold Dominique was a Haitian journalist and activist for human rights and democracy in Haiti. His station, Radio Haiti-Inter, was the first to broadcast news, investigative reporting, and political analysis in Haitian Creole, the language spoken by most Haitian people. On 3 April 2000 he was assassinated as he arrived for work at Radio Haiti-Inter. An extensive though turbulent investigation failed to officially identify and bring to justice the primary perpetrators, who remain at large.
Françoise Paulette Louise Dorléac was a French actress. She was the elder sister of Catherine Deneuve, with whom she starred in the 1967 musical, The Young Girls of Rochefort. Her other films include Philippe de Broca's movie That Man from Rio, François Truffaut's The Soft Skin, Roman Polanski's Cul-de-sac, and Val Guest's Where the Spies Are.
Jean-Jacques Beineix was a French film director best known for the films Diva and Betty Blue. His work is regarded as a prime example of the cinéma du look film movement in France.
Raoul Peck is a Haitian filmmaker, of both documentary and feature films. He is known for using historical, political, and personal characters to tackle and recount societal issues and historical events. Peck was Haiti's Minister of Culture from 1996 to September 1997. His film I Am Not Your Negro (2016), about the life of James Baldwin and race relations in the United States, was nominated for an Oscar in January 2017 and won a César Award in France. Peck's HBO documentary miniseries, Exterminate All the Brutes (2021), received a Peabody Award.
René Xavier Marie Alain Cuny was a French actor of stage and screen. He was closely linked with the works of Paul Claudel and Antonin Artaud, and for his performances for the Théâtre national populaire and Odéon-Théâtre de France.
The 7th César Awards ceremony, presented by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma, honoured the best French films of 1981 and took place on 27 February 1982 at the Salle Pleyel in Paris. The ceremony was chaired by Orson Welles and hosted by Pierre Tchernia and Jacques Martin. Quest for Fire won the award for Best Film.
Arnold Antonin is a Haitian film director. A man of diverse careers, Arnold Antonin is known both inside and outside Haiti for his social, political and cultural commitment. He was honored for lifetime achievement with the Djibril Diop Mambety award at the International Film Cannes Festival in 2002. He received the Paul Robeson African Diaspora best film award at FESPACO in Ouagadougou in 2007, 2009, and 2011. He also received numerous awards and accolades at festivals for his documentaries and fiction movies. He was president of the Haitian Filmmakers Association (AHC) from 2005 to 2009.
The Cinema of Niger began in the 1940s with the ethnographical documentary of French director Jean Rouch, before growing to become one of the most active national film cultures in Francophone Africa in the 1960s-70s with the work of filmmakers such as Oumarou Ganda, Moustapha Alassane and Gatta Abdourahamne. The industry has slowed somewhat since the 1980s, though films continue to be made in the country, with notable directors of recent decades including Mahamane Bakabe, Inoussa Ousseini, Mariama Hima, Moustapha Diop and Rahmatou Keïta. Unlike neighbouring Nigeria, with its thriving Hausa and English-language film industries, most Nigerien films are made in French with Francophone countries as their major market, whilst action and light entertainment films from Nigeria or dubbed western films fill most Nigerien theatres.
Jean Aurenche was a French screenwriter. During his career, he wrote 80 films for directors such as René Clément, Bertrand Tavernier, Marcel Carné, Jean Delannoy and Claude Autant-Lara. He is often associated with the screenwriter Pierre Bost, with whom he had a fertile partnership from 1940 to 1975.
Cyrille Thouvenin is a French actor. Former pupil of Cours Florent and a graduate of the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art.
Perri Pierre is an American filmmaker and actor of Haitian descent.
Hugues Gentillon is a Haitian film director, screenwriter, producer, and scientist. He is the founder of Yugy Pictures Entertainment, a film production company based in the United States.
Jean Douchet was a French film director, historian, film critic and teacher who began his career in the early 1950s at Gazette du Cinéma and Cahiers du cinéma with members of the future French New Wave.
Sophie Deraspe is a Canadian director, scenarist, director of photography and producer. Prominent in new Quebec cinema, she is known for a 2015 documentary The Amina Profile, an exploration of the Amina Abdallah Arraf al Omari hoax of 2011. She had previously written and directed the narrative feature films Missing Victor Pellerin in 2006, Vital Signs in 2009, The Wolves in 2015,
On the Verge of a Fever is a 2004 Canadian drama film, directed by John L'Ecuyer. An adaptation of Dany Laferrière's novel Dining with the Dictator , the film is set in Haiti over the weekend in 1971 when François Duvalier died and was succeeded as president of Haiti by his son Jean-Claude Duvalier. It centres on Fanfan, a teenage boy who is hiding from the Tonton Macoute after being drawn into trouble by his friend Gégé, and who loses his virginity to Miki, the young woman sheltering him at her home. Fanfan is a character who frequently recurs in Laferrière's work, including the concurrent film How to Conquer America in One Night , which was Laferrière's own directorial debut.
