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Kanaval: A People鈥檚 History of Haiti in Six Chapters

A visually arresting film that documents the story of Haiti's rich past, through an annual carnival in a small southern town.

A visually arresting feature documentary, set in the present but which tells the rich story of Haiti鈥檚 past, that follows a number of carnival performers in the lead-up to, and during, the annual Jacmel Mardi Gras. The performers relate their own personal histories as well as the stories of their carnival characters, which represent moments and people from the distant, and not so distant, Haitian past. Interwoven with the interviews, testimonies and observational footage is archive material, drawn from a wide variety of sources to enhance our understanding of Haitian history and culture from the time of the indigenous Taino through to the present day. This is not the carnival of sequins and sound systems found elsewhere in the Caribbean, but a celebration of rebellion and resistance resonating through the centuries.

The lives of the indigenous Taino Indians, the Slaves鈥� Revolt of 1791, the establishment of Haiti as the western hemisphere鈥檚 first Black republic in 1804, the debt forced upon Haiti by the French, and more recently state corruption are all played out using drama and costume on the streets during Carnival - or 鈥楰anaval鈥� in Haitian Kreyol. There are extravagant, many-peopled troupes that can totally overtake the streets, such as the Zel Maturin, satin-clad devils in papier-m芒ch茅 masks with four-foot hinged wooden wings, which they smack together dangerously, and the Lanse K貌d, hordes of behorned, shirtless men, skin shining with an oily patina of cane spirit, syrup and charcoal, who rage through the streets, ropes in hand, before diving communally into the ocean at the end of the day. But there are also lone, idiosyncratic performers too, for whom their character and costume represent their own intensely personal spiritual visions, such as Bounda pa Bounda, who enacts a Vodou vision given to him by spirits in a dream.

Kanaval is people taking history into their own hands and moulding it into whatever they decide.

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Sun 27 Nov 2022 21:00
成人论坛 Four

Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:00

    Brian Eno

    Another Green World

  • 00:05

    Sons of Kemet

    My Queen Is Nanny Of The Maroons

  • 00:58

    Sons of Kemet

    My Queen is Yaa Asantewaa

  • 01:05

    Nemours Jean-Baptiste

    Ti Carole

Credits

Producer Natasha Dack Ojumu
Director Leah Gordon
Director Eddie Hutton-Mills

Broadcast

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