Movies

American comedian Ben Stiller, who has been working in Haiti since 2010 to promote education and to build schools through The Stiller Foundation, gave a new direction to Haitian cinema. He merged his film making interest with his interest in promoting education and joined forces with Ciné Institute. Ciné Institute is the only film making school in Haiti. Stiller joined the Institute and discussed why film making education is vital. He pointed out that films do not only create job opportunities but they also help people to express their emotions and to tell their stories to the world. Ben Stiller discussed this after he took the stage at Jacob Burns Film Center.

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Here is a picture posted about a film at De Luxe Auto Cine in Haiti

Cinema in Haiti is plagued by lack of technical and weak artistic preparations. Actors, artists and technicians learn on job and they are far busier in solving technical problems. They barely deal with the problems on the creative side. The state is devoid of concrete legislation on cinema and even the state administration has never shown any interesting in promoting filmmaking in the nation.

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Here is a picture of Cine Variete in Haiti in 1916

Cinema in Haiti almost came to an end during Duvalier regime of dictatorship. Only three local films were made during the 28-year dictatorship era of Pap Doc and Baby Doc. This was primarily because of the fact that the nation was hit by extreme poverty and the financial and technological constraints were at their best. The 3 films that were produced were Map play net - a short film by Raphael Stines in 1976, a feature film Olivia by Bob Lemoine in 1977 and Anita by Rasul Labuchin in 1980. May play net and Anita were shot with 16mm film while Olivia was shot using 35mm film.

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Here is a picture of Ciné Théatre - Duvalier Ville during the years 1965 - 1970

Cinema in Haiti entered almost simultaneously as in the rest of the world. Lumiere cinema's representative Joseph Filippi was the first to make the first ever public screening in Haiti during his visit to the island nation on 14 December, 1899. On next day, the 15th of December, Filippi a fire in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince. The Library of Congress has several films that were created during the US occupation era of 1915 to 1934. These films depicted the US Marines and the official ceremonies of the US military. Apart from these, the Library of Congress as well as Pathé-Ciné Library have a collection of some early films showing Haitian social life, agriculture and health care.

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Are you one of those who were in haiti, specially in Port-au-Prince during the time when Capitol was the talk of the town. This was a place for the young, the old and the very young. Unfortunately entertainment such as those you would find at Capitol Movie Theater do not exist anymore in haiti

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Here is the famous Movie theater in Haiti Rex Theatre. The facility is located in Port-au-Prince, in Champ de mars. Haiti Rex Theatre is a Movied theater that became famous in the 1970 and 1980 for offering its

If you mention Rex Theatre to some Haitians, they will have a story to tell you about it. At one point, this was a meeting place as many weekend activities were taking place there

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This picture and specifically reminds me of the city of Cap-Haitian so much. Septent Theatre is a movie theater located in Cap-Haitian and owned by the Haitian band Septentrional. In the old days, this theater would have music, comed, and movies all weekend long

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Here is a picture of the Haitian movie Theater. This reminds of a lot of souvenirs in haiti as I was growing-up. Movie in Haiti was considered to be a fun thing. this was where most likely you would meet your future husband or wife

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The Parisiana Theater in Haiti was one of the largest cinemas in the country. Located in Champ de Mars, the Parisiana Theater was opened in year 1914. The theater had a seating arrangement for 500 people. In the morning of 30th April 1930, an arson attack destroyed the theater by setting it on fire. Three years later Cine Eden opened in Cap-Haitian followed by Paramount in 1934 and then Rex Theater in 1935.

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The Serpent and the Rainbow is a 1988 Haitian film directed by Wes Craven. This horror flick was inspired by Voodoo rituals of Haiti. The film is about a Boston based man, Dennis Alan, who was sent to Haiti by a pharmaceutical firm to find the drug that was used by Voodoo practitioners to make their victims look dead and the victims were buried and later resurrected. Alan did find the drug but fell victim of the Voodoo rituals and later fought back evil Voodoo leader with help of his protective totem, the jaguar spirit, which he obtained in Amazon.

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