How Old Is Cinema In Haiti?

The cinematograph came to Haiti at almost at the same time as it appeared in the other countries of the world.

On 14 December 1899, a representative of the Lumière cinematograph made the first public projection at the little Seminary.

The following day, this same representative, Joseph Filippi, who was stopping off in Haiti, filmed a fire in Port-au-Prince.

There are in the archives of the American Library of Congress numerous moving images from the period of the US occupation from 1915-34, showing the actions of the marines and official ceremonies.

There are also some images filmed in Haiti on health care, agriculture, or scenes from social life, particularly Carnival, in the Library of Congress archives and at Pathé-Ciné.

The first continuous projections, after the visit of the Lumière brothers' representative, took place from 1907 at the Grand Hôtel of Pétionville, then from 1914 at the Parisiana, which is situated at the Champ-de-Mars.

The Parisiana was the first large cinema theater (with around five hundred seats) in the country.

In 1933, the Ciné Eden opened its doors in Cap-Haïtien.

The following year, Paramount opened in Port-au-Prince, and in 1935 the Rex Theater was founded, also in the capital.

Ricardo Widmaïer was a radio and cinema pioneer.

At the beginning of the 1950s, he was responsible for directing and projecting news features at the Paramount cinema.

He had his own laboratory in Port-au-Prince where he developed his 16 mm films in black and white and color.

He produced with Edouard Guilbaud Moi, je suis belle (I Am Beautiful).

Jean Dominique, the author of the commentary, was also the narrator.

In charge of sound was Herby Widmaïer, who was then only fifteen years old. Although there is no systematic research and therefore no precise documented information on these news features, there were filmed reportages on diverse subjects until François Duvalier took power in 1957. Emmanuel and Edouard Guilbaud directed numerous reportages on the political and sporting events that were thought to be the most important, often under the direction of Ricardo Widmaïer. The Cinema Haitian People Watch Even though local film cinematographic production is virtually nonexistent, Haitians still go to the cinema in large numbers.

In the 1960s, Haitians still had the choice between French and Italian films.

But as time passed, in spite of the venues offered sporadically by the Institut Français, Hollywood movies (and not the best kind) took over the screens.

During the entire time of the Duvalier dictatorships, there was strict surveillance of films shown for fear that they might express subversive ideas.

For example, Luis Buñuel's film Fièvre monte à El Pao (1959) was soon withdrawn from the theaters.

Very often, Westerns and martial art films were the only choices offered to the public.

In the 1980s, the company Maxence Elisée appeared on the Haitian cinema market.

This French Caribbean company allowed the Haitian public access to hit films produced in France and to French versions of American films.

Today, this group, now renamed Loisirs S.A., dominates the distribution and operation of Haitian cinema and owns most of the country's theaters, notably the three largest--the Impérial (5 theaters), the Capitol (4 theaters), the Rex.

This is part of an article by Arnold Atonin dated October 2008

Read the full article here:
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