Category Archives: Screening

VODOU FILM NIGHT at the Cube

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8pm Friday 21st January – £4 entry

The Cube Cinema will be showing the amazing 2002 documentary Des Hommes et Dieux which looks at the role of gay men in the Vodou religion.  There’ll also be an introductory talk by vodou expert Dr Bettina Schmidt, plus clips from Hollywood “voodoo” movies, a secret surprise extra screening, and DJ The Janitor from QuJunctions spinning Haitian sounds in the bar.

Vodou flags , Petionville March 2010

Haitian Vodou must be one of the most misrepresented religions in the world.
Since 1932’s  White Zombie starring Bela Lugosi, Hollywood movies have portrayed “voodoo” as being about black magic and zombies.
In fact Vodou is a complex mix of Western African religions brought over by the original slave population, which incorporated the iconography of the slave masters’ Roman Catholicism and Free Masonry.
It is also a deeply egalitarian, communal, and artistically creative religion which has stubbornly survived two centuries of negative propaganda from the ex-colonial powers and evangelical Christianity.
Tonight’s event is an opportunity to see some films that are very rarely screened in the UK and find out about a religion and culture that is often deeply misunderstood.

“I am always in support of events that educate people about Vodou. The negative connotation of Vodou can be traced back to the time of the slave rebellion in the 18th century and has never stopped to harm the image of Haiti and the religion. It’s appalling that so many people in the US, UK, and elsewhere still believe the Hollywood Zombie movie idea of Vodou”  Dr. Bettina Schmidt, editor of “Spirit Possession and Trance”

This event is particularly relevant given news stories about the murder of vodou priests in “retaliation” for the current cholera outbreak in Haiti.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12073029

About Des Hommes et Dieux

Prevalent, yet still taboo in Haitian society, homosexuality and gay culture are allowed to flourish within the context of the Vodou religion. As “children of the gods,” the men find an explanation for homosexuality as well as divine protection. They also find an outlet for theatrical expression through exhilarating performances in which they embody the gods. Meanwhile, the AIDS epidemic looms as a continual threat and adds a disquieting degree of nihilism to their relatively optimistic attitudes toward life and happiness in Port-au-Prince.

cite soleil pictures

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Cite Soleil photos…

 

 ...putting up the screen
  
  ... Kino audience dancing to the sound system before the films
  
                                                                                           ...Shaun the sheep comes to Cite Soleil.  
(Our main features for the two nights were Disney's animated Robin Hood (Robin du Bois), and Kirikou et La Sorciere.)

Street Screening, Side of a School

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On Wednesday, after Dave got the generator running again, we decided to give it a test run with a little screening for the kids from the street where Kid’s Kino team members Sergo (our driver) and Jhon  Adam (our translator) are living.

The earthquake completely destroyed Sergo’s house and his only surviving possessions were the clothes he was wearing. He was round John’s uncle and aunt’s house at the time and dug them both out of the rubble (they’re both in their eighties) – he’s now a bit of a neighbourhood hero – John says people call him “The President”
Now Sergo, his wife, their 18 month old little girl Sabrina, John and one other are living in a tent in the street, just along from the abandoned church/school we projected the night’s films on…

Rain interupts fourth screening, Hedgehog in the Rain

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Our fourth screening was at a camp on Route Delmar 33… 3000 people living in incredibly tightly packed tents on a football pitch.

Early arrivals

Early arrivals

The third short film of the screening was “Hedgehog in the Fog” made in 1974 by Yuri Norstein (the Tarkovsky of children’s animation!). Have a look – you won’t be disappointed. As the end credits rolled the rain came down, hard, the crowd of about 150 ran for cover, and we had to abandon the screening, and save the equipment.

Projector taking shelter

Projector taking shelter

Screen in the rain

Screen in the rain

Football pitch turning into a lake

Football pitch turning into a lake

This camp is one of the most organised we’ve seen but after half an hour many of the tents were flooded. Everybody we meet here is talking about the coming Rainy Season and what it will mean. No one seems to be building proper drainage ditches or latrines. When the real rains come sewage will overflow, disease will follow and life in the tent cities and camps which is already hard will become unbearable. I asked Joseph Hillel a Haitian/ French Canadian volunteer (see previous entry)  why no one is preparing for the rainy season? Because people want to believe the camps are temporary.  The owner of an athletic club, for example, doesn’t want drainage ditches and latrines dug into his football pitch. How can people think the camps are temporary? Because  huge new re-settlement camps with facilities are being built on the outskirts of the city. We drove past one near the airport which is supposed to re-house people from the central Champs Des Mars area. But why aren’t people moving out there? Because people who have lived all their lives in a certain neighbourhood don’t want to be moved to a piece of wasteland outside the city.

Tomorrow we’re going to go shopping for some kind of shelter for the projector and soundsystem.

Screening in Cabaret, Des Hommes Et Des Dieux

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Last night we took the Kino with Laurence and her crew to the funeral of Denis in the country town of Cabaret. Denis was one of the incredible interviewees in Laurence Magloire and Anne Lescont’s 2006 documentary Hommes Et Des Dieux which looks at the place gay men in the voudou religion. Being gay is not easy in Haitian society, but because vodou is a non- hierarchical religion there is a place for gay people to practice and celebrate within it. We projected the documentary to about 80 of Denis’s friends, family and neighbours in a tiny packed yard, and a lot of the participants in the documentary were in the audience. It’s rare for Kreol speaking Haitians to see themselves represented on screen, let alone to see the gay community represented on screen – so being in involved in this screening was an amazing and moving evening…

Marko and Dave have been projecting to audiences ranging from 300-500 people each evening

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Amidst heat, humidity, dust and mosquitoes, Marko and Dave have been projecting to audiences ranging from 300-500 people each evening. There’s more demand than we can supply and so the HAITI KIDS KINO PROJECT is being welcomed with open arms.French language films are going down great — Ballon d’Or from Guinea, The Red Balloon and Kirikou Et La Sorciere. Slapstick and comedy work very well too… our very first screening was in a small camp in Cite de Soleil in Port au Prince; the programme was – La Belle Fille et Le Sorciere (short – France) Shaun the Sheep – Kite (short – UK) Hedgehog In the Fog (short – Russia) Ballon D’Or (feature – Guinea).. and the crowd loved it! One of the highlights was the whole audience singing and clapping along to Vic Reeves singing the theme to Shaun the Sheep. We’re hoping to continue this great work after Marko and Dave’s return and rainy season passes. Please get in touch if you’d like to be involved in any way.

photos – Ian Rosenberger/Dave