Baby Love Did it! Li Se Manman-m Is A Hit!

Li Se Manman-m Grand Premiere

"Baby Love, I cannot believe you made me cry" says Island TV host Marly Charles as she hugs the filmmaker after seing the movie.

"Zie-m rouj toujou wi" (my eyes are still red) says filmmaker Herold Israel.

Li Se Manman-m brought tears to everybody's eyes on Saturday. I cried when I saw it the first time in a private screening setup for Belfim.com a while ago; I cried again on Saturday. Usually I try very hard not to give my opinion, good or bad, about Haitian movies but I have to admit that this is the first Haitian movie that make me cry.

belfim.com/picture-4338Long time filmmaker Jean Gardy Bien Aime openly admitted that Baby love is the man. The godfather of Haitian cinema gave the young filmmaker his blessing.

Li Se Manman-m is a true Haitian movie that positively represents the values of the Haitian country side (Neg andeyo), the poor Haitian living in the ghetto (neg anba), and the rich in Haiti (neg anwo).

The Haitian countryside is a part of Haiti that is often misrepresented in movies. People from the country side are often called "Abitan Djol Di", "Neg Mon", "Neg Andeyo" but rarely do I see the positive side of the countryside, which I know exists, represented so positively in any type of medium. As a nation, we forget that the "Gran Don" also lives in the countryside, My grand father Jules Saint Preux was one of them, that is why I am very proud to say that my family is from Labergue, near Hinche, where I come from.

I've been trained to never say where I am from but I am who I am today because of the values my family gave me. You are a nobody if you reject who you are and where you're from. Babylove's movie proves it.

"Fet atansyon," I once said in an TV interview given to Carl Fombrun for Le Coin De Carl on Island TV, "neg andeyo gen gro rev."

Thank you Babylove for representing where I'm from the way that I remember it.belfim.com/picture-4455

Seeing people with funny clothes and stupid hats on stage may be funny to Haitians but let me say it for the record, these comedians DO NOT represent the Haitian country side. As Babylove proved it in his movie Li Se Manman-m, the country side is not only about torn hats, rubber shoes, and dirty clothes, the country side where dreams come from.

The movie Li se Manman-m also represents the Haitian ghetto. it shows you that not all people who live in Cite Soleil are gang members, kidnapers, and chimeres as CNN and the world media would like you to believe. It also shows you that being poor and living in Cite Soleil does not necessarily mean that everyone there lives on top of garbage piles and in cardboard boxes. We may be living below the poverty line but we can still be clean and neat and there is lots of moral support even there despite the daily struggles and adversities.

belfim.com/picture-4333I heard someone say in the premiere "Gade ti fle li ki pandye nan kay la" pointing to the flower that was hanging in the little one room house in the middle of Cite Soleil where the movie was shot. Li Se Manman-n was shot on location, in Cite Soleil. Babylove actually rented these two houses from their owners for two weeks to shoot the movie, giving it a realistic view on life in the Haitian ghetto.

The world media has painted such a terrible picture of Haiti that it will take all of you Haitian filmmakers to paint a more beautiful picture.

I challenge all you to do that. Let us rip the Haitian picture painted by CNN and the Miami Herald, let us show the world how beautiful Haiti really is. Keep making Haitian movies like that, Belfim got your back.

belfim.com/picture-4412I am sorry for being somewhat off topic. After all, I was only supposed to tell you about the grand premiere but this is something that is very dear to my heart.

Li Se Manman-n also showed a positive side of the "Neg Anwo", the rich in Haiti. Not all rich Haitian people are stuck up and selfish as they have been portrayed in Haitian society. Some of them actually have a good heart and they want to help the less fortunate.

Know this: Poor people do not give scholarships, poor people do not build schools, poor people do not build hospitals, poor people do not create jobs. The rich do all of that. We need them, they need us. Get used to it.

There is such a dividing line between the rich and the poor in Haiti that sometimes you feel the urge to burn your bridges and enter the world of make believe in order to belong. Unfortunately, this "Faux class" has been created by the gatekeepers, people who pretend they are rich when in reality there no better than you and me.

belfim.com/picture-4460The gatekeepers are stupid, ignorant, and dumb people with a serious low self esteem problem who are rich only in their dreams. Their biggest achievements are what school then went to in Port Au Prince, le Francais (no disrespect to those who speak French), where they live, and which "Les Ceux-Ci" they know.

The "Faux Riche" does not contribute at all to Haitian society except perhaps to destroy the very foundation on which Haitian society was built.

It all started on the country side of Haiti!

Once again this event was a grand premiere. I am now finding out that there is a big difference between a movie grand premiere and playing a movie for the first time. Haitian filmmaker Godnel Latus AKA Baby love put together a capital GRAND premiere this Saturday.

The movie was playing simultaneously on 10 screens, 6 big screens all around the Caribbean Hall as El Palacio and 4 monitors at the bar. Whether you were sitting in the theater area or any or the dinner tables majestically set up, whatever direction you were facing, you would be able so watch the movie uninterrupted.

What Babylove had in mind was an all inclusive ambiance for everyone in the Haitian movie industry and all the special guests who were there.

belfim.com/picture-4426You've probably heard the words "Dinner and a movie" before but this Saturday as El Palacio Resort Hotel, it was "movie, recognition, dinner, and then it was party time".

Filmmaker Jean Guardy Bien Aime did a wonderful job presenting Babylove, the main characters of the movie, and the filmmakers who were there. Even those who were not present got their respective recognition.

Champagne a gogo! Beer and soft drinks a gogo! Food a gogo!

The DJ was on point.

Le-m di-w sa-a zanmi-m, nou manje, nou danse, nou zouke, nou azibido, epi nou gaye pay nou korekteman!

belfim.com/picture-4327Similar the La Trace grand premiere aboard the Sea escape boat cruise, the grand premiere of Li Se Manman-m was an exclusive event, the public was not invited. Only Haitians superstars and special guests were invited. The official guest list has been posted on Belfim.com

Since this was the grand premiere of "Li Se Manman-m" (She Is My Mother), Every man was asked to bring their mother, wife, or girlfriend to the event.

Ladies and gentlemen, "Van-an Vire!" The wind of Haitian Cinema has shifted, this is what everyone is saying. Suddenly we are seeing new kinds Haitian movies, new kinds of Haitian movie premieres, and there is a sense of unity taking shape amongst the Haitian filmmakers. whatever you guys do, keep it going.

One last thing I must mention....

During this grand premiere, Babylove intended to do something totally new.

belfim.com/picture-4343The host of the show was supposed to introduce one Haitian filmmaker to the stage, this filmmaker would have the floor for one minute to talk about himself, his past and future projects, and the Haitian movie industry. Then that filmmaker would end his speech by introducing the next filmmaker to the stage.

By the end of the introduction phase, all the guest would have a pretty good idea who our filmmakers are and what they working on.

Unfortunately, many of the filmmakers were not there and some arrived late. because of that the procedure did not go as planned. It was a great initiative by Baby love, we hope that next time everyone will attend and everyone will on time so that this can be carried out as planed.

you can see all the 200+ pictures taken at the Li Se Manman-m grand premiere here.

Thank you Baby love for inviting me, and a big thank you for everyone who was there to make the event a success. I cannot wait to read your comments on Belfim about the grand premiere and the movie itself.

I am Woodring Saint Preux and I said it.

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