The Connectivity Condition...Partying with Diane Lane

So here comes the new year and we're coursing through post production on Nou Sove. I was looking at some of the photo's and came across this one again:



I've posted it a couple of times before because I thought it was a cool, off the cuff photo snapped with my I Phone for lack of any other story catching medium at that time. It's out of focus mostly, but more in focus on Diane Lane while she flashes a gang sign. Well, it's not a gang sign, but what it does relay is a symbol of peace, relief a sort of letting go. Connection. She does connect so well on screen and I feel it's what makes her a great actress. But that night was all about connection. The group playing is called RAM and is one of the most popular in Haiti (I'll discuss them in a later post and wait until you see the interview and footage.) What makes them so popular is connection. They connected to the audience in so many ways that night. They connect to the people of Haiti and abroad through their message of politics mixed with songs of joy and straight out fun music.



Notice Jimmy in the corner.



He got caught up in the frenzy, grabbed the camera and started shooting. Everyone was caught in the the magic of the moment. We all I feel were one at that moment.

Moving into the new year I feel this is the place where change can happen. I call it the "Connectivity Condition". Holidays are a time where everyone takes a time out. They let go for a moment. Tensions are eased, stress is relieved (except Christmas, the most stress intensive holiday of the year). But New Years is about partying, resolutions, new outlooks, hugging the stranger next to you at the overpriced bar or club or warehouse you're in. Or your neighbor, loved one or in some cases your sworn enemy. But after the 1st it's back on, it's go time, the horses are out of the gate, the dogs are let loose, choose your cliche' statement.

I'll write more on how I feel the "Connectivity Condition" can make the difference for Haiti, but for now I'm taking time out before the new year to reflect on what is important. Connecting with people, helping when you can, feeling the connection is like no other feeling. Nothing can replace it and hopefully we can all take this feeling further into 09.

Haiti's close, yet so far.

We've started going over some of the footage and although it's been over a week I still feel I'm there. Maybe because Haiti is so close, only two hours by plane. Close as many cities in this country, but so far. It was surreal to be there with John Edwards, who was a viable presidential candidate only a few months ago. So close. But hope was there in the form of a priest, Father Rick. He told a story one night in the middle of Wharf City of how one must deal in Haiti to get things done. It was an amazing tale of good versus evil, greater good versus greater good. In the end what is greater? What is good? Evil? Close, so close. Lives, walk a mile in another's shoes, greener grass, other side, take a side, take a stand. Doc soon, story soon.


Paul Haggis, Josh Brolin, Father Rick, John Edwards

Experience, heart and soul

Being in Haiti for this trip was amazing, heartbreaking, encouraging, gut wrenching, inspiring, brilliant, and I feel an experience that has moved me as much as any experience in my life. I've lived all around the US, in Europe and in Africa, but this trip really moved me. First, Haiti must be one of the most connected places on Earth. At all times there are people walking, catching tap taps (trucks with benches in the back)...







...on and off and on again, riding bikes in tandem, motorcycles three and four on the same seat at a time, talking, selling, trading and simply making it work. The connectiveness of the people push the life there, make it possible to make a way, seemingly out of no way. But there is. This connectiveness I feel is the key to Haiti's future. We went to a school in the heart of Cite Soleil, one of the roughest cities on the planet.




garbage piled in the sewers

There were women, men, children, grandparents, parents, brothers and sisters in the same room...learning. The seed, that's the seed. The spark. It was breathtaking to me in the midst of the sea of turmoil an island, engaged, eyes cemented to the wall of a chalkboard. Ad hoc chairs, stools and whatever could be used to have a place in the room of the sun. Soleil means sun and the city, in that room was indeed shining. The surroundings however, where quite gloomy. UN peacekeepers spotted every quarter mile or so with grenades, machine guns, riot uniforms and all.


Heaps of garbage, much of it burning, as much of Haiti is perpetually burning. Pigs and goats rooting in the muck wherever they pleased. And the bustle of the people, constant movement was the glue that kept it all from collapsing, the weight and burden as heavy as any in history. But hope is where I found glory. There is much hope. I'll get into that in later posts. And there was of course Jimmy moving seamlessly and effortlessly from the high hotels, to the dankness of Wharf City touching hearts wherever he went.



And Josh "Rollin'" Brolin, connected as much and funny as ever, hanging off the back of a tap tap any chance he got.



Later posts, later posts...

pics...blog soon

Doc soon, Photo's now.

Did I mention that going to Haiti will bring a new perspective on life. It will change you. More photo's. Info on the documentary coming soon.


Jakmel Bay...Haitian Pride.


Boats prepared for sea in Jakmel


Diane Lane partying to the sounds of RAM, one of the most popular bands in Haiti


Jimmy Jean Louis with wind in his face moving up the mountainside to Jakmel

Back from Haiti

Haiti was incredible. Everyone needs to go at some point in their life. Images for now.



Jimmy Jean Louis and John Edwards


Paul Haggis and a beautiful Haitian girl.




Super Photographer Marc Baptiste/ Josh Brolin/ Madeline Stowe/ Maria Bellow/ Micheal Stahl David/ Bryn Mooser

Nou Sove

"Nou Sove" is the 2nd in our "Sove Nou" trilogy. The first part is our documentary "Sove Nou" narrated by Danny Glover

www.kijikmultimedia.com/sovenou

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and one of the poorest in the world. The country is as poor as any Sub-Saharan country in Africa or similar underdeveloped region in Western Europe. The Sove Nou trilogy was initiated to address many of the issues that have brought Haiti to where it is now, some of what is being done and what can be done to help bring stability to the region. The third in the trilogy is our feature film called "Tears for Revolution" which is currently under development. This blog and companion website will chronicle the development of Nou Sove while we're in Haiti December 2nd- 7th with logs, video and photographs. Our Haiti trip has become a bit bigger than we anticipated, as a movement has been started called Hollywood for Haiti which will take place while we're in Haiti. Below is information on that. This is not to be confused with the non profit "Hollywood Unites for Haiti" started by "Heroes" actor Jimmy Jean Louis, which KijiK will be partnering with for many projects:

HOLLYWOOD IN HAITI TO HELP CHILDREN IN NEED

Paul & Deborah Haggis, James Franco, Madeline Stowe, Josh Brolin & Diane Lane, Maria Bello & Bryn Mooser, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Michael Stahl David and others, in Haiti with N.P.H. – Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos (Our Little Brothers and Sisters) for the inauguration of the first Rehabilitation Centre for disabled children in the country, and the launch of “Francisville – New Work City.”

Two-time Academy Award winner Paul Haggis went to the slums of Haiti last February to meet Father Richard Frechette, priest and doctor, who has been working with the children of Port Au Prince for over twenty years.

Haiti is one of the two poorest countries in the world. “Father Rick,” as he is known to the people of its massive slums, is the Head of N.P.H. – Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos (Our Little Brothers and Sisters, Nos Petit Freres and Soeurs), a humanitarian organization founded in 1954.

In Haiti today, two hundred and fifty children die every week, most from easily preventable diseases. One child out of three dies before reaching the age of five. Of those who survive, one child out of two does not go to school. Seventy percent of its people are unemployed.

While in Haiti, Haggis visited several N.P.H. projects, including the orphanage that Father Rick founded twenty years ago, home to six hundred abandoned children, and the beautiful new pediatric hospital he built -- the largest in the Caribbean. He also spent time at Father Rick’s street schools in the slums, which provide an education and a hot meal a day to over 3.000 children, and NPH’s water distribution centre, which provides the only clean water available to thousands of people. Father Rick also built the only free mortuary and cemetery. As terrible as it sounds, until he did so, most poor parents were unable to bury their dead children, and their bodies were simply left on a hill, and as a result suffered terrible indignities.

Paul was also there to witness the beginning of construction of NPH’s rehabilitation centre for disabled children.

This December 3^rd, a date internationally celebrated as World Day for Disability, Paul and a group of friends will return to Haiti for the inauguration of “Kay Saint Germaine – House of Little Angels,” the first rehab centre in the country for disabled children. The life of these children is especially difficult in Haiti. According to voodoo worship, the disabled are considered cursed. They are therefore shunned, often abandoned, or worse.

Those visiting on this occasion are doing so to support N.P.H. and Father Rick in spreading information and awareness about the plight of the handicapped children in Haiti. They will also attend the kick-off of a new project, Francisville, a site where small factories and a professional school will be built to produce basic goods such as bread, soap and shoes in order to provide training and jobs for the poor, as well as to create resources to at least partially sustain N.P.H. humanitarian projects in the country.

Joining the group of Americans will be a delegation of Italian donors and volunteers from Fondazione Francesca Rava – N.P.H. Italia, the organization that lead to the realization of Kay Saint Germaine and is now promoting Francisville.