Rachelle Salnave wins Best Director!

Major kudos to director Rachelle Salnave who won Best Director for her documentary "La Belle Vie" at the Reel Sisters of the Diaspora film festival in New York over the weekend. "La Belle Vie: The Good Life" has been quite successful on the festival circuit, earning Salnave a Best Director nod at the BlackStar Film Festival. The film also aired on local television in South Florida. Again, big ups to Rachelle! You make us proud!

Photo from Ms. Salnave's social media page. 

A treasure trove of Haitian short films!

Filmmaker Michele Stephenson has a treasure trove of brilliant short films that I absolutely love. Most relevant today is "Delmas 54" which looks into Haitian-Dominican relations through the eyes of volunteers. 

Stephenson is 1/2 of the filmmaking team behind "American Promise" a documentary on the state of the educational system in the U.S. "American Promise" screened at the Sundance Film Festival, was picked up by PBS and was nominated for 3 Emmys. 

Check out the shorts on Black Public Media's site here ---- http://blackpublicmedia.org/haiti/

AFM is fast approaching!

It's almost that time of the year again. The American Film Market kicks off in about three weeks in Santa Monica, CA. AFM is a marketplace where movie buyers and sellers from all over the globe converge to buy/pre-sell/sell movies. As usual, I will be with South Africa's delegation to the market. Of course, I will have my fellow Haitians filmmakers with me. 

Be sure to stop by Room 316 (SOUTH AFRICAN INDIES) and say hello!

"Papa Machete" wins best short documentary at the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival

Jason Fitzroy Jeffers at TTFF. (Source:FB)

"Papa Machete" has been cleaning up on the festival circuit. The latest award comes courtesy of the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival where the film won best short documentary. Producer Jason Fitzroy Jeffers was on hand to accept the award.

The film first screened at the Sundance film festival and has been very well received on the circuit since then. ""Papa Machete" explores the esoteric martial art that evolved through this victory [Haitian Revolution] through the practice and life of a farmer named Alfred Avril. The short film documents his proud devotion to his heritage in the face of bitter poverty, and his efforts to keep this mysterious art alive" (Source: www.papamachete.com).

The filmmakers are working on a possible feature version of "Papa Machete". We will keep you posted as we get more information. In the meantime, check out the film's trailer below.

Haitian films and the Iphone revolution

Lotre jou mwen tap pale de sineas ki fè fim sou iPhone. Mwen pale de yon fim ki rélé "Tangerine" koté ké sineas yo fé fim la Los Angeles avèk yon IPhone é bon jan lens profésyonèl (read the article again HERE.)

And now we have "The Painter of Jalouzi", a new film shot entirely on the iPhone 6s plus which focuses on Duval, the man who painted bright colors on the homes we see in the hills of Petion-Ville when we land in Haiti. The filmmakers at RYOTT worked with Apple and used the iPhone 6s Plus (which shoots in 4K). It's a short film shot in less than a week and it is available on YouTube already. Kidonk, nenpòt moun, nenpòt koté ka fè yon fim. Watch the film below!

Numa Perrier does it again!

Numa Perrier in "Ella", a film written and directed by Martine Jean.

Numa Perrier does it again! The Haitian-American actress and co-founder of Black and Sexy Tv just announced a new partnership with BET. 

BET has picked up three of Black & Sexy’s original digital series: RoomieLoverFriends, Sexless (a personal favorite) and Hello Cupid. The partnership kicks off with RoomieLoverFriends airing on Wednesday September 16^th (Today!) at 11pm E.T. RoomieLoverFriends explores the "situationship" between two roommates and is created and directed by co-founder Dennis Dortch. Blackandsexy.tv has a variety of original programming and the founders have built a strong fan base over the past few years. 

Black & Sexy Tv co-founders (from left to right): Jeanine Daniels, Brian Ali Harding, Dennis Dortch and Numa Perrier.

I’m an avid Black & Sexy tv supporter and am elated to see their programming reach even more consumers. Not to mention this is a big score for BET! Catch RoomieLoverFriends tonight on BET then let us know what you think! Chapo ba pou Numa!

Follow up on that "Haitian Sitcom"

We have more details on the potential ABC show we mentioned HERE

Turns out it really is not an Haitian sitcom. The show is a semi-autobiographical family comedy and focuses on Kat Coiro’s and her family as they live in an apartment above Tap-Tap restaurant in South Beach. Her parents own Tap-Tap (I was surprised to learn this tidbit). Most intriguing from Deadline’s announcement is the following:

“Her parents both are of the (sic) European descent but have strong ties to the Caribbean country and had previously taken in six Haitian refugees into their home in Key Largo.”

I’m not sure what role those "Haitian refugees" will play in the show, if any. As I’ve said before, I will reserve judgment until I see a script or the pilot episode. I do hope that this is not some White savior show.  That trope has been regurgitated countless times in the past and personally, I have no interest in it. And while this is a comedy, Haitians should not be the butt of the jokes. I would go on about representation etc. but I said I’d reserve judgment, so I will stop here.