Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck doesn’t mince words. Nor should he.
“Aid is never innocent,” he said after a recent New York showing of his bracing documentary Fatal Assistance, which examines the humanitarian efforts (or “aid machine,” as he and others call it) in Haiti, since the catastrophic 2010 earthquake.
His view of the humanitarian world isn’t, to put it mildly, pretty. Focusing in particular on international reconstruction efforts that have stalled – with pledged aid in many cases either delayed or not dispersed at all–the film reveals a surfeit of high-minded idealism and good intentions by outsiders (such as Bill Clinton) but not enough attention paid to Haitians themselves.
The film reveals how Haitians uprooted by the quake would have been better off receiving small direct grants to rebuild homes on their own rather than having to endure temporary shelter that was both expensive and inadequate.
In what is one of many poignant arguments, the film declares that “somehow Haiti always survives its benefactors.” It is hard not to feel that Haitians will survive this latest round of outside imposition with typical Haitian aplomb and endurance.
Yet, it won’t be easy. Haitians were the first to come to the aid of fellow Haitians after the quake, and for about two to three weeks afterwards, Peck recalled during a March 1 director’s Q-and-A at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, a feeling of solidarity was in the air of the streets of Port-au-Prince. But after about a month or so, there grew a dark feeling that an outside, invading army had planted itself firmly on Haitian territory. (There was a long history of this, of course. Even before the quake, Haiti was known as the “Republic of NGOs.”)
Showing posts with label Raoul Peck. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Raoul Peck. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Friday, March 7, 2014
Film 'Fatal Assistance' spotlights colossal aid failure in Haiti
With unintentional understated irony, senior housing advisor Priscilla Phelps of Bill Clinton's Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC) becomes the conscience of Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck's Fatal Assistance (Assistance Mortelle), which opened Friday at the Lincoln Center for a one-week run before moving on to Miami and other cities. Peck meticulously revisits the timeline, from the first seconds of the monstrous Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake through almost three years of "recovery" efforts by the international community.
Fatal Assistance opens and closes with frightening footage of a man and a woman caught on security cameras during the initial moments of the quake. The man runs for his life as structures implode around him in a burst of dust and debris. He disappears off-camera and we do not learn his fate.
The woman, running into an open courtyard, literally falls to the ground and embraces the earth. Both are Haiti, running for its collective life and having no hope of rescue, dependent completely upon the population's bond with an island that has been it's only hope and sustenance since the days of slavery.
Fatal Assistance opens and closes with frightening footage of a man and a woman caught on security cameras during the initial moments of the quake. The man runs for his life as structures implode around him in a burst of dust and debris. He disappears off-camera and we do not learn his fate.
The woman, running into an open courtyard, literally falls to the ground and embraces the earth. Both are Haiti, running for its collective life and having no hope of rescue, dependent completely upon the population's bond with an island that has been it's only hope and sustenance since the days of slavery.
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Raoul Peck's 'Fatal Assistance' among 11 films set to open at Film Society this spring
Forget spring cleaning, a whole batch of new movies are coming to Film Society as the days get longer and the weather (hopefully) gets milder. Eleven films will open their theatrical runs here in the coming months, starting with Raoul Peck's Berlin and Human Rights Watch Film Festival feature Fatal Assistance on February 28. The film joins held-over features In Secret, Jimmy P. and Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil le Clercq.
The following week, Italian actress turned director Valeria Golino's Honey (Miele) will join the group, while two films from Japanese director Sion Sono, Guilty of Romance and Himizu, will bow later in the month. Freida Lee Mock's documentary Anita, which brought out audiences in droves at last year's Human Rights Watch Film Festival, will begin its theatrical run March 21. It will be joined the same day by Lars von Trier's much awaited (and debated) Nymphomaniac: Volume I starring Charlotte Gainsbourg as, well, a nymphomaniac. The salacious story continues as Nymphomaniac: Volume II wades deeper into carnal indulgence starting April 4.
The following week, Italian actress turned director Valeria Golino's Honey (Miele) will join the group, while two films from Japanese director Sion Sono, Guilty of Romance and Himizu, will bow later in the month. Freida Lee Mock's documentary Anita, which brought out audiences in droves at last year's Human Rights Watch Film Festival, will begin its theatrical run March 21. It will be joined the same day by Lars von Trier's much awaited (and debated) Nymphomaniac: Volume I starring Charlotte Gainsbourg as, well, a nymphomaniac. The salacious story continues as Nymphomaniac: Volume II wades deeper into carnal indulgence starting April 4.
Friday, February 28, 2014
Fatal Assistance: a Scattered, Impressionistic Look at Haiti's Post-Quake Problems
There's no more sobering example of the feeble results of the massive, multibillion-dollar relief effort that is post-Haitian-earthquake reconstruction than the pathetic one-room shacks, with no plumbing or cooking areas, finally built by the international do-gooders who swarmed the island.
In Fatal Assistance, director Raoul Peck, a Haitian native, demonstrates that multinational relief groups and celebrities did little to relieve Haiti's plight -- a gruesome worsening of a housing situation that was critical even before a debilitating 7.0 magnitude quake shook it to rubble in 2010.
But Peck doesn't exactly make the why all that clear. The mass of dead bodies and debris to be moved was immense, requiring manpower, expertise, and, above all, money, but that problem wasn't quite sexy enough for the likes of Sean Penn, outside relief groups, and their mountains of cash.
Haitian politicians and agencies got sidelined, but Peck doesn't really address the stated reason: the outsiders' fear of local corruption. Housing expert Priscilla Phelps of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission led by Bill Clinton offers a pointed critique, but her contributions to the film's argument come here and there, without focus.
Voiceovers that are a fictional exchange of letters, like most dull re-enactments, sap the film's force. Peck's documentary is not a penetrating look at at Haiti's post-quake problems, but a scattered, impressionistic one. It unveils the bureaucracy, naïveté, and historical forces plaguing Haiti to this day, but it's no more than a forceful poke at a hornet's nest.
In Fatal Assistance, director Raoul Peck, a Haitian native, demonstrates that multinational relief groups and celebrities did little to relieve Haiti's plight -- a gruesome worsening of a housing situation that was critical even before a debilitating 7.0 magnitude quake shook it to rubble in 2010.
But Peck doesn't exactly make the why all that clear. The mass of dead bodies and debris to be moved was immense, requiring manpower, expertise, and, above all, money, but that problem wasn't quite sexy enough for the likes of Sean Penn, outside relief groups, and their mountains of cash.
Haitian politicians and agencies got sidelined, but Peck doesn't really address the stated reason: the outsiders' fear of local corruption. Housing expert Priscilla Phelps of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission led by Bill Clinton offers a pointed critique, but her contributions to the film's argument come here and there, without focus.
Voiceovers that are a fictional exchange of letters, like most dull re-enactments, sap the film's force. Peck's documentary is not a penetrating look at at Haiti's post-quake problems, but a scattered, impressionistic one. It unveils the bureaucracy, naïveté, and historical forces plaguing Haiti to this day, but it's no more than a forceful poke at a hornet's nest.
Friday, February 7, 2014
Raoul Peck’s 'Fatal Assistance' to screen at Lincoln Center, NYC on February 28, 2014
FATAL ASSISTANCE is award-winning Haitian born filmmaker Raoul Peck's two-year journey inside the challenging, contradictory and colossal rebuilding efforts in post-earthquake Haiti. Through its provocative and radical point of view, Fatal Assistance offers a devastating indictment of the international community's post-disaster idealism. The film dives headlong into the complexity of the reconstruction process and the practices and impact of worldwide humanitarian and development aid, revealing the disturbing extent of a general failure. We learn that a major portion of the money pledged to Haiti was never disbursed, nor made it into the actual reconstruction. Fatal Assistance leads us to one clear conclusion: current aid policies and practice in Haiti need to stop immediately. (Description by Human Rights Watch Film Festival)
The documentary screened at the 2013 Human Rights Watch Film Festival and will open at the Film Society of Lincoln Center exclusively on Friday, February 28, 2014 for one week only.
A native of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Raoul Peck was raised in Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) after his family fled Haiti's Duvalier regime. Educated in France, the U.S. and Germany, where he studied filmmaking, he has directed film and television in both documentaries and fiction features, including Lumumba (Cannes Director's Fortnight 2000) and The Man by the Shore (Cannes 1993), which was the first Haitian film to have an American theatrical release. In 2005 he produced and directed Sometimes in April for HBO, about the Rwandan genocide (Berlinale Competition 2005). His last feature film Moloch Tropical was also presented in Toronto and Berlin. Former Minister of Culture of the Republic of Haiti, Peck was the recipient of the Irene Diamond Award presented by Human Rights Watch, for his body of work. He is, since January 2010, Chairman of the Board of the film school La Fémis in France.
The documentary screened at the 2013 Human Rights Watch Film Festival and will open at the Film Society of Lincoln Center exclusively on Friday, February 28, 2014 for one week only.
A native of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Raoul Peck was raised in Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) after his family fled Haiti's Duvalier regime. Educated in France, the U.S. and Germany, where he studied filmmaking, he has directed film and television in both documentaries and fiction features, including Lumumba (Cannes Director's Fortnight 2000) and The Man by the Shore (Cannes 1993), which was the first Haitian film to have an American theatrical release. In 2005 he produced and directed Sometimes in April for HBO, about the Rwandan genocide (Berlinale Competition 2005). His last feature film Moloch Tropical was also presented in Toronto and Berlin. Former Minister of Culture of the Republic of Haiti, Peck was the recipient of the Irene Diamond Award presented by Human Rights Watch, for his body of work. He is, since January 2010, Chairman of the Board of the film school La Fémis in France.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Academy of Motion Picture invites Raoul Peck to join its Board of Directors
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the names of 276 new members invited to join as the class of 2013 (100 more than were invited last year).
Noteworthy names on the list that you should immediately recognize include: Ava DuVernay, Chris Tucker, Kimberly Elise, Paula Patton, Prince, Raoul Peck, Reggie Rock Bythewood, Roger Ross Williams, Stanley Nelson, Steve McQueen, Tim Story, Tina Gordon Chism, and William Greaves.
There might be a few others whose names I don't recognize, especially in categories like Costume Designers, Makeup Artists, Sound, Visual Effects, and more.
But congrats to all! I'm especially surprised, but also pleased to see Raoul Peck's name on the list.
I'm even more surprised that William Greaves wasn't already a member. The man's been working in the business (primarily as a documentary filmmaker) for 50 or so years.
Noteworthy names on the list that you should immediately recognize include: Ava DuVernay, Chris Tucker, Kimberly Elise, Paula Patton, Prince, Raoul Peck, Reggie Rock Bythewood, Roger Ross Williams, Stanley Nelson, Steve McQueen, Tim Story, Tina Gordon Chism, and William Greaves.
There might be a few others whose names I don't recognize, especially in categories like Costume Designers, Makeup Artists, Sound, Visual Effects, and more.
But congrats to all! I'm especially surprised, but also pleased to see Raoul Peck's name on the list.
I'm even more surprised that William Greaves wasn't already a member. The man's been working in the business (primarily as a documentary filmmaker) for 50 or so years.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
VIDEO: Raoul Peck's Fatal Assistance (Trailer)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGPbqO5ocrE
"Fatal Assistance" is the new documentary of Haitian director Raoul Peck. Production was financially supported by Bread for the World and sponsored by Church Development Service. The two-year film traces Haiti's reconstruction, how it could have happened, who the ten million people in the Caribbean helped despite global promises being not met or insufficient. He asked policy makers, experts and engineers as well as everyday Haitians on the street who care to painstakingly rebuild their country. "Fatal Assistance" will be celebrating at the International Film Festival in Berlin, held from February 7 to 17, had its world premiere.
"Fatal Assistance" is the new documentary of Haitian director Raoul Peck. Production was financially supported by Bread for the World and sponsored by Church Development Service. The two-year film traces Haiti's reconstruction, how it could have happened, who the ten million people in the Caribbean helped despite global promises being not met or insufficient. He asked policy makers, experts and engineers as well as everyday Haitians on the street who care to painstakingly rebuild their country. "Fatal Assistance" will be celebrating at the International Film Festival in Berlin, held from February 7 to 17, had its world premiere.