NoCleanHands: On Haitian Restaveks
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Project Summary
We are producing a documentary about restaveks in Haiti. Restaveks are children in Haiti who are forced to leave their families and live instead with distant relatives or unrelated families. They often live under conditions similar to indentured servitude and sometimes slavery. Children can be subject to regular beatings and, in many cases, suffer from malnurishment as families only allow them to eat left-over scraps after meals. Often, they are not allowed to receive an education. Usually, the restavek's immediate family has either passed away or cannot afford to raise the child. There are an estimated 300,000 restaveks living in Haiti today.
Who We Are
Shineika Fareus is a senior at New London High School. She is the co-Producer, co-Director, and co-Editor of the film. “I have never seen helping others as an 'extracurricular activity.' This is life.”
Sam Simonds is a sophomore Film Studies major at Connecticut College. He is the co-Producer, co-Director, and co-Editor of the film. “I believe that an excellent film has the power to inspire new narratives by challenging problematic paradigms within a culture."
Yves Pierre is a sophomore International Relations and Economics double major at Connecticut College. He is a co-Director and co-Editor of the film. “I aim to understand the restavek system as it contextualizes child exploitation. I want to explore how the educational systems are working to prevent child exploitation.”
Connor Gowland is a senior Film Studies major at Connecticut College. He is the Director of Photography and co-Editor of the film. “I am interested in how film can be used to tell the untold stories that have been neglected in standard forms of storytelling and understanding."
Our Purpose
As a team comprised of two white Americans and two black Haitian-Americans going into Haiti to produce a documentary, we recognize the potential for this project to perpetuate the same systems of racism and prejudice that we are attempting to reject. We are collaborating with Haitian people and communities in order to learn how restaveks and other Haitians want their stories to be told.
We are producing a 10-15 minute documentary in a way that best represents the experiences and cultural values of Haitian people. We will be contextualizing the manifestation of the restavek system within Haiti's history following the Haitian Revolution (the first ever successful slave revolt) by exposing the greater strategies of economic and social oppression led by western governments, namely the United States and France. It is our goal to create a film that does not play into stereotypes of Haitian people and the African diaspora as a violent or incapable people. We are committed to conveying Haitian culture and humanity, rather than aestheticizing poverty in Haiti. Many documentaries created about ‘developing’ nations are focused on making art out of poverty and violence, a theme we aim to dismantle.
What We Need
We will be filming in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, from March 14th to March 21st. We have received $2,000 from grant proposals to help reduce the travel and production costs of this film; however, we still only have enough funds for two of us to travel to Haiti and work on the production of the film. If we reach our funding goal of $2,700, we will have enough funds for all four of us to travel to Haiti. The funds will also increase the production value of our film, while also giving us more flexibility with equipment, gear and editing software. We will finish the film by August, 2017, and aim to submit the film to festivals such as Hot Docs Canadian Film Festival, Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, Los Angeles Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, among others, all of which have submission fees.
We appreciate anything that you are able to donate.
We are producing a documentary about restaveks in Haiti. Restaveks are children in Haiti who are forced to leave their families and live instead with distant relatives or unrelated families. They often live under conditions similar to indentured servitude and sometimes slavery. Children can be subject to regular beatings and, in many cases, suffer from malnurishment as families only allow them to eat left-over scraps after meals. Often, they are not allowed to receive an education. Usually, the restavek's immediate family has either passed away or cannot afford to raise the child. There are an estimated 300,000 restaveks living in Haiti today.
Who We Are
Shineika Fareus is a senior at New London High School. She is the co-Producer, co-Director, and co-Editor of the film. “I have never seen helping others as an 'extracurricular activity.' This is life.”
Sam Simonds is a sophomore Film Studies major at Connecticut College. He is the co-Producer, co-Director, and co-Editor of the film. “I believe that an excellent film has the power to inspire new narratives by challenging problematic paradigms within a culture."
Yves Pierre is a sophomore International Relations and Economics double major at Connecticut College. He is a co-Director and co-Editor of the film. “I aim to understand the restavek system as it contextualizes child exploitation. I want to explore how the educational systems are working to prevent child exploitation.”
Connor Gowland is a senior Film Studies major at Connecticut College. He is the Director of Photography and co-Editor of the film. “I am interested in how film can be used to tell the untold stories that have been neglected in standard forms of storytelling and understanding."
Our Purpose
As a team comprised of two white Americans and two black Haitian-Americans going into Haiti to produce a documentary, we recognize the potential for this project to perpetuate the same systems of racism and prejudice that we are attempting to reject. We are collaborating with Haitian people and communities in order to learn how restaveks and other Haitians want their stories to be told.
We are producing a 10-15 minute documentary in a way that best represents the experiences and cultural values of Haitian people. We will be contextualizing the manifestation of the restavek system within Haiti's history following the Haitian Revolution (the first ever successful slave revolt) by exposing the greater strategies of economic and social oppression led by western governments, namely the United States and France. It is our goal to create a film that does not play into stereotypes of Haitian people and the African diaspora as a violent or incapable people. We are committed to conveying Haitian culture and humanity, rather than aestheticizing poverty in Haiti. Many documentaries created about ‘developing’ nations are focused on making art out of poverty and violence, a theme we aim to dismantle.
What We Need
We will be filming in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, from March 14th to March 21st. We have received $2,000 from grant proposals to help reduce the travel and production costs of this film; however, we still only have enough funds for two of us to travel to Haiti and work on the production of the film. If we reach our funding goal of $2,700, we will have enough funds for all four of us to travel to Haiti. The funds will also increase the production value of our film, while also giving us more flexibility with equipment, gear and editing software. We will finish the film by August, 2017, and aim to submit the film to festivals such as Hot Docs Canadian Film Festival, Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, Los Angeles Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, among others, all of which have submission fees.
We appreciate anything that you are able to donate.
Organisateur
No Clean Hands Documentary
Organisateur
New London, CT