Cape Haitien, La Citadel, ghosts and the living.

Ghosts are real. Ive seen them here:







This is The Citadel in Cape Haitien. It is the largest fort in the Western Hemisphere.













The fort was commissioned by Henri Christophe between 1805 and 1820 to fight off attacks from the French, but was never used as the island nation was never really physically threatened after Haiti's fight for independence in 1804.

The ghosts of threat still exist though. Although Haiti has maintained it's independence, the challenges faced seem at times ready to topple the country through the sheer magnitude and weight of the problems. It will change though, the ghosts of La Citadel told me while I stayed there. And I did stay there.


Four days in a little room, damp like camping, cold at night from the masonry and eerie. And it was an amazing experience, one of the best in my life.

More on the Cape Haitien, The Citadel, ghosts and the living on the next blog post.

New York, back in production, back to basics, more to come...

So I haven't posted in a while, because it's been so busy not only with Nou Sove, but with other KijiK projects as well. We have been taking in a lot more production work, CineVisun our non-profit Film and Media industry support organization just wrapped up a weekly Sunday event that went for two months and we're wrapping up post on Sove Nou. But work on Nou Sove has been heating up. We just cameback from our second big production leg in New York and it was great.


And we're heading to Cape Hatien on Monday.

The first part of production in New York was covering Jimmy and his involvement in the movement I 2 am Haiti as the spokesperson/ambassador for the Pan American Development Foundation.

While there he shot the first Public Service Announcement for the campaign.

Next Jimmy co-hosted an event for the MTV Unplugged Caribbean showcase which was an incredible look at some of the best current and up and coming Caribbean artists in the world.

“The world” was an omnipresent theme this trip. We are hoping to bring the plight and fight of and for Haiti to the world with the Sove Nou trilogy, in case I haven't mentioned that it is indeed three projects that compromise one concept. The first parts are the documentaries "Sove Nou" and "Nou Sove" and the third is feature narrative film "Tears for Revolution" which we are currently developing to start when Nou Sove is in post production. The worlds of Haiti and New York are more alike than many might think, at least the distinction of populated areas. NYC is filled and over the brim with the hustle and bustle of living, people moving as machinery, timed, synchronized in and out of buildings, subways, cabs, night and day.

No care of light and dark, simply getting it done. High energy, high octane, making ways from the connectivity. As I've written in many posts Haiti is the same, the people moving in unison, like a dance.

The cogs churning, dependent on the wheels to turn for the next day to turn to weeks and years. This is the key, as it's infectious. One moves up, then another and another with information, knowledge and connection internally and externally with the world. All. It's what makes New York a global epicenter. Movement is what makes Haiti work period. Upward growth will move the country forward.

Information processing theory dictates that our minds work like computers with short term memory (RAM) which operates our daily routines and long term memory (hard drive), which is our history. I feel novel experience (cognitive dissodance) increases the productivity of our short term memory, which in turn expands our long term memory and the ability to process our history quicker, relate it to our circumstance at the given moment and/or project for future growth. The more relevant the information, the better suited we are to make things happen for ourselves and others. Therefore the more connection we have to the global strata, the better suited we are to maneuver in this new age, the technological revolution. Education does it, is uplifting in every way. The more informed we are, the more we demand that change happens.

While in New York we stayed in the Millennium Hilton across from where the Twin Towers once stood.

It was amazing and at the same time eerie and haunting.


It's a lesson that destruction can happen to anyone, anywhere and we must care no matter where it occurs. America came together on that day. All of us. We rallied hand in hand. But division always sets in. The machine churns regardless.

Haiti is an American story. Haitians fought in the revolutionary war. There were slaves in America, but they fought as free men coming from Haiti at that time, a free country. They fought for America's independence. The history of Haiti and America is indelibly intertwined. Haiti has suffered many debilitating blows historically and recently with five major hurricanes hitting the island nation in the last couple of years. Much of Haiti looks like a war zone due to internal problems, but also natural disaster. Many are fighting for the TPS distinction that other nations have received for similar problems and even less, that would allow expatriates and others to recover and save many lives. But that story can be found in the Sove Nou trilogy. For now production continues on Nou Sove.

The last of our New York Tour was covering the Hollywood United/ Hollywood Unites for Haiti (HUFH) celebrity soccer match and after party. Hollywood United is a celebrity soccer team run by the incredible actor Anthony Liapaglia (Without a Trace, CSI, Frasier).


The match was to benefit Jimmy’s non-profit organization Hollywood Unites for Haiti. There were many celebrities out for the event.

Skeet Ulrich (Jericho, The Newton Boys), Donal Logue (Max Payne, Ghost Rider), Gilles Marini (Nip, Tuck), Ethan Zohn (Survivor ,winner 2007), Costas Mandylor (Beowulf, Saw), Steve Jones (Sex Pistols), Michael Stahl David (Cloverfield, The Black Donelly’s),
Cheryl Burke (Dancing with the Stars), members of the band “Your Vegas” Melky Jean (recording artist), Marc Baptiste (photographer) and more.

One standout and I feel has become an incredible thread in the Nou Sove saga is Michael Stahl David. When I was in Haiti in December, it was Michael’s first trip. He seemed to be enamored and drawn in by the country and the people, as many are intoxicated by the magic, power and energy the island nation holds. We spoke at a dinner a couple of days before the soccer match and he told me he was on his way back to Haiti to teach acting classes the following week and how excited he was. At the soccer match he gave an incredible interview echoing the same and bought many raffle tickets in support of HUFH.







This is a transformation I have seen occur many times and I can see why Haiti at one time was one of the top tourist destinations in the Caribbean. Will Haiti ever be considered “The Pearl of the Antilles” again still is yet to be seen, but I do feel she will one day rise from the ashes as the phoenix, blazing a path to glory.

Movement forward

The sun shines...Jimmy just officially launched the Hollywood Unites for Haiti website:

www.hufh.com

and it's great. I remember when he told me he was just thinking about it, which was a bit after he became a character on "Heroes". Now it's material and movement forward. From a thought to action. Movement.

We've created a temp microsite for Nou Sove and are working on the official site now:

www.kijikmultimedia.com/nousove

Soon. Steps and bricks, morter and foundation. I can feel a sweeping movement coming soon.

Jimmy Jean Louis Non-Profit organization - video footage from Haiti

Jimmy Jean Louis is finished with the website for his non profit organization "Hollywood Unites for Haiti". It's great. I'm on the Advisory Board, but also footage we shot while in Haiti is on the main page:

Hollywood Unites for Haiti

Jimmy is doing incredible work, professionally and importantly socially.

Here's a breathtaking photograph by Marc Baptiste that I feel exhibits the movement.

Change and Rollin Josh Brolin

Change. A new president. A first. The first black president in American history. As President Obama alluded to in his inauguration speech, his father (and him) would not have been served at many restaurants as little as 60 years ago because of their skin color. I lived in South Africa ten years ago, not that far removed from apartheid. Change came swiftly and quick, but after so long it was past due. A Pepsi commercial that ran repeatedly during the inauguration showcased The Berlin Wall coming down with a sledgehammer wielded by a youth ready, bursting with the energy of a bright new day. There is a certain force that creates the engine necessary for sweeping change to happen. Often times it's a perfect storm and more often than not the storm comes from the power of people, a critical mass that moves the needle past the breaking point.


Josh Brolin and Haitian women being photographed by Michael Stahl David

I have a nickname for Josh Brolin. Rollin Brolin. He lives it. Life. Full on. Even when I saw him relaxing it was like the guy was moving. And all while in Haiti he moved. I came off the plane, was dropped off at the hospital and right into the back of a Tap Tap off to Cite Soliel. Jimmy, Josh, Paul Haggis, Dianne Lane, Maria Bello and Bryan Mooser were in the back. "Welcome", "hey", "you ready for this"...so many open greetings. And off we went, Jimmy and Josh hanging off the back. Josh took it further. One leg hanging, rocks popping from tires, dust in face, dusk settling in, I couldn't have written a better narrative.


Jimmy Jean Louis, Josh Brolin

And when we landed off he went, straight into the waiting and anxious crowd of children. And there was embracing and love and smiles and joy.



That was everyone, but he was the first, off like a rocket. That was Josh the entire trip. Full throttle. Stories, and discovery and fun and lows and highs, it all resonated and registered easily by watching Rollin. Why do roles that range from cowboy, to sadistic megalomaniac, to two time loser, to President, to internally tortured politician ( not the same role, but...)come across with honesty and truth, delivered with clarity and passion, depth and compassion. Say what you want, he is one hell of an actor. And passionate yes, compassionate...he didn't hesitate when it came time to give a hand or hug or reach out to all who reached out to him and those that didn't as well.


photo courtesy of Stefano Guindani (incredible photographer, story later)

I spoke with a young documentary filmmaker that was on the plane with him on the way to Haiti. He was on the way to shoot his first documentary. Josh told him to show up at one of the functions we attended and gave him an incredible interview. At Father Rick's Josh was one of the first to move 100 pound bags of rice used to feed the hungry and one of the last. Full throttle. Say what you will, the proof is in the action. And congrats sir on your Oscar nomination.


photo courtesy of Stefano Guindani

Energy. Much has been directed. Change. It may come slowly, maybe slower than we want, but it can come. What it takes is action, not just talk. Energy, directed, focused and consistent. Passion, compassion, heart and soul.

A shot in the dark. Hope shines through.

There were many heartbreaking experiences while in Haiti. There is much poverty. But there is much hope as well. Just like anywhere I've lived in the world, the human spirit has a way of rising through obstacles. All we know is circumstance. Some are born with incredible monetary wealth. Some, like the lost tribe in the Amazon that was reportedly discovered last May know their environment and not much of the modern world. But were they really lost? I think they know where they're at. That leads me to the point of this post. We know our experience.

One great moment for me was when we were heading to Jakmel. The incredible photographer Marc Baptiste decided to stay in the back of one of the trucks for a while to shoot photographs on the way up.


Marc Baptiste


photograph courtesy of Marc Baptiste


Jimmy Jean Louis

Jimmy decided to do the same and I did as well. Again, one of the better experiences of my life. Marc had a bottle of 22 and we rode through Port-au-Prince and up to Jakmel shooting photo's, video and having a great time.

Marc is from Port-au-Prince and at one point we passed the area where he is from there. He pointed it out and told us this great story about how he got a scar on his face playing around in the streets of Port-au-Prince. He told me he had no idea he would even go to America, less become a famous photographer.

By that time I had already gone with Jimmy to where he was born and heard many stories about him growing up, met his Aunt who was great and some of his old friends. Jimmy had no electricity while growing up as a young boy. He told me he didn't even have a concept of what acting was while growing up in Haiti.

The world to them at that time was Haiti. When I was in Cite Soliel in the middle of one of the roughest parts, I was shooting video and heard a little kid maybe about 7 or 8 rapping. Rapping. I walked or should I say creeped over and started filming him like I've done on so many big music artists. And the boy started performing like so many artists. I jacked up the volume with a beat box and a crowd started to form. Bryn Mooser came over and started beat boxing too and next thing I knew there was a huge crowd almost concert like of kids and women and men and the kid was performing like he was at Madison Square Garden. He had on if I can remember correctly (this will be in the documentary, but we haven't made it to this tape yet so don't quote me)a Michael Jordon basketball jersey. Now we were in the middle of heaps and piles of garbage, pigs and goats and fires and piles of people on piles and there was this kid giving his heart. Giving his all. And all that disappeared. The piles became stands, the people became fans. He was at that time as good as any I've seen or at least had as much soul. He was the Michael Jordon, the Jay Z, the Rakim or TuPac of his city at that moment. He may have some of the troubles we hear so much about in developing countries, but at that moment he was brilliant and shining, a star. In the middle of the middle of Haiti. He most certainly knew a lot more than his immediate surroundings. He knew the world of rap music enough to do it as well as most. But he still hasn't been touched. Or that's at least what the statistics say. 70 percent illiteracy rate. Maybe he wasn't one in that number, but there are so many.

That could have been anyone really. In the Amazon, or on Heroes, or into wealth, or in the middle of the middle of Haiti. You could be reaching out, reaching so hard into a void, a black hole screaming for help. That kid may become a great rapper, or actor or photographer or wealthy beyond imagination. The odds may say no, but the odds have been wrong so many times. Scales balance, the cycle completes itself, guards change in ways never conceived. And anything can happen. Anything. Nothing is lost if never ventured to gain. And shots, even in the dark are worth it if to save just one. Most need that shot at least once in their lives.

Project Medishare, The Coral Gables Congregational Church and Lambi Fund of Haiti

Project Medishare, The Coral Gables Congregational Church and Lambi Fund of Haiti partnered for an incredible initiative.

Click here or copy and paste: http://projectmedishare.wordpress.com/

The wind of change is blowing strong. Internal change, external range.

Haiti is suffering

This article entitled "Misery in Haiti" says it all:

http://www.miamiherald.com/1374/story/849297.html

Father Rick, Michael Stahl David, Jimmy Jean Louis, Connection

I've mentioned Father Rick on a few posts before. Since he was mentioned so heavily in the first post of this blog, I felt it might be prudent to touch on some of the other experiences before I got back to him. He is quite incredible. But first a bit about the film.

Nou Sove and the companion documentary Sove Nou are about discovery. What has happened in Haiti? What is happening? What does the future hold? Without understanding the past, how can we find the future? The films were not done to give the answers, to present a solution. There is too much there to even try to approach. What they are trying to relay is a broader discussion, to seek understanding.

Michael Stahl David is an extremely talented actor. For my company KijiK, we put Cloverfield as one of our top ten movies of 2008, not because Michael was one of the stars, but because it posed questions, made us think. What if? What drives people to react in dire circumstances?

What I think makes Michael such a great actor is the quest for understanding. I feel he reaches his character through that exploration, the motivation of the character. I felt I connected with Michael in part because of his quest for understanding while we were in Haiti. He explored more than many I've seen in my travels. There were times when the group was moving to the next stop and Michael would be across the street, or in an artists studio, or so engaged in conversation with someone (even though there was a language barrier), we would be gone for a long period without realizing he wasn't with us. I feel he was totally engaged with Haiti and that the people he connected with were engaged with him, drawn to him.

Jimmy is the main focus of Nou Sove in part because I feel he is Haiti. He is connected like no other to the country. His connection is evident in every character he plays, but also I feel in his life. He lives every moment for the moment.


And that brings me to Father Rick. Connection. He started an orphanage 20 years ago. He now presides over the largest pediatric hospital in Haiti and all of the Caribbean, the largest orphanage, the only clean water available to thousands of people and a school system that reaches into the poorest and most crime ridden areas in the country.



I was blown away by his ease from place to place. At the hospital he directed the opening of a new branch while we were there and the daily operations of the facility.






The next day he was giving away tons of food at a drop off point in Cite Soliel. He guided us through Wharf City and the slums in Cite Soliel, where only a few years ago the police and military would not go for even an hour. And they love him. All reaching out to him as we walked, not as a deity, but as a fellow man, human. And the schools in the middle of Wharf City. Incredible.



Connection. We are all born into a set of circumstances, some more favorable than others (at least on the surface). But who knows what circumstance one could have been born under. And in this time of crisis, where people are losing so much it's more relevant than ever. Walk a mile in another's shoes. Maybe connecting isn't so far fetched. Haiti is only two hours away.

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...