Hello, my lovelies!
I hope that all is absolutely splendid! J
About a week before
Memorial Day, I was on my Facebook page and noticed a post from Edwidge
Danticat’s page, who is a Haitian author I fell in love with back in middle
school and whose Facebook page I follow. The post said something about her
being featured in a film that would be playing in Maryland a couple of weeks
later. I was intrigued. And so after a little Google researching, I found out
that the film they were referring to, Stones in the Sun, was actually going to
be part of the 2012 DC Caribbean Film Fest!!!
I reached out to my
friend Georges, who I went to middle school and high school with and has lived
in the DC metro area for several years – and who I had failed to link up with
since I moved to the area last September, and arranged for us to go check the
movie out together on Saturday. I couldn’t help notice that there were a whole
other bunch of movies that were going to be featured that weekend and so I
reached out to my former roommate/friend, Carolyn, to see if she wanted to go
with me to see a movie on the Sunday. I let her know that I wanted to see Elza;
I did not let her know that it was only because all of the names associated
with the film sounded Haitian! Lol.
Anyway, below is a
rundown of the two movies I saw, as well as information on both the two films
and the film fest itself. I totally recommend both movies! Yay, Caribbean
filmmakers!!!
Stones in the Sun translates in Creole to Woch
Nan Soley and refers to a Haitian proverb that says, “Stones in the water do
not know the misery of stones in the sun,” or something to that effect. It is directed by Patricia Benoit and I was
extremely impressed with the quality of the movie! I’m so used to watching
Haitian films that seem as if they were filmed on a $2 budget and I’m proud to
say that this movie was quite a delightful change! I mean, it wasn’t anything
amongst the ranks of a Spielberg production or anything, but it was quite good,
yes! The movie illustrated the lives of several Haitian immigrants in New York,
and how their stories are linked. I found myself wondering about my own family
members who have migrated to the US – a lot of whom live in NY, too – and
trying to find comparisons. For the most part, there weren’t many similarities…
The characters in the movie end up in NY after having suffered some sort of
traumatic ordeal or another, whereas my family members kind of just ended up
here decades ago… But, it definitely does make me think about all of the people from Haiti who I have met and know here in the US... I see them and I think, What's your story? How'd you come to leave Haiti? What ws that transition like when you got here? Anyway, great film! Below is a picture of the cast and below that is a link to a clip from the movie about one of the characters, Vita (who I think resembles Sanaa Lathan). Check it out!
Elza was a movie I chose to see because
the names of the directors and actors and stuff sounded Haitian to me – and I
wanted to see another Haitian film because… I felt like it! Anyway, it turned
out that the film was from Guadeloupe, directed by Mariette Monpierre, and the names all seemed Haitian to
me because Guadeloupe and Haiti (as well as St. Martin and Martinique) speak
French, hence the similar French/Haitian names. Anyway, alluh we iz one! So,
Carolyn (who is Indo and Afro Guyanese) and I proceeded to check out Elza. We
were about fifteen minutes late but our timing seemed to be perfect, as we
walked in on a scene that would lay out the rest of the movie. The movie is
actually about a girl who is born in Guadeloupe and migrates to Paris with her
mother and sister. I’m not sure what exactly happened to her mother and father;
it was probably explained during one of the scenes in the beginning that
Carolyn and I missed. So, years later, after the girl has graduated from
college in Paris, she decided to return to Guadeloupe – much to her mother’s
disapproval – to find the father she left so long ago and has yearned for ever
since. Really good movie! And the movie’s director, Mariette Monpierre, was on
hand after the movie for a question and answer session, which I thought was
really cool. (The director of Stones in the Sun was supposed to do the same, I
found out, but was a no show. Damn Haitians! Gotta love my people, yes!
SMDH.) Anyway, another great film. Check out the trailer below!
To check out a
listing of all the other fabulous movie that were featured at the 2012 DC
Caribbean Film Festival, visit 2012 DC Caribbean Film Festival .
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