The Haitian Movie Awards in NYC, Photos & Reportage

Haitian Movie Awards

belfim.com/picture-6406See all the picture here, click on Haiti Movie Awards 2009 Photos

There seems to be a lot of controversy about the event, some people are questioning who won, who should have won, and a lot of why's and why not's.

Honestly, everyone who was there won and all who didn't show up, and had the opportunity to, they lost big time.

I say this because those of us who were there, enjoying each other's company, we had a lot of fun, many actors met their colleges for the first time, and they were all happy to be there, if not when they arrived, definitely before they left.

You see, the ceremony didn't start on the red carpet, it started, for me, Thursday night, when I spoke to Raynald Delerme, and he told me:

"Woody, lets go hangout in New York..."

That was enough to convince me that I had to be there, although Frantz Design did not meet all the requirements necessary for me to travel to an event, I did not want to disappoint Raynald, someone I have come to admire over the years.

There are plenty of critics on and off Belfim to tell you everything that went wrong but myself, I will tell you the story. There is always a great story to tell, no matter what happens.

belfim.com/picture-6393There are so many great stories to tell that I will fast forward all the way to the red carpet, bypassing all the jokes, all the excitement, including Papa Pie's extremely funny Easter joke inside one of the stretch limousines loaded with Haitian stars while we were waiting outside for the go ahead to make a grand entrance.

As we arrived on the red carpet, a theme was immediately established.

A simple idea conceived by a group of actors and Charmy M to all wear Army uniforms to the grand premiere turned out to be what I will call today "BELLYWOOD LAME A."

Even the host Valerio Saint Louis was shocked when he realized that Raynald Delerme, the undisputed godfather of Haitian cinema was escorted by 4 soldiers and a sergeant.

"BELLYWOOD LAME A", uncut, unedited, on queue, it became one of the highlights of the evening... Exciting.

belfim.com/picture-6350And the ladies...

The ladies were dressed to kill...

They were beautiful.

You would think they all met somewhere before the event to decide what to wear. There were so many beautiful gowns worn that evening that I was breathless.

Believe me... This is coming from a man who is very cheap with telling a women "You're beautiful..."

But I am improving!

On stage I witnessed some things that I've never seen before in my experience and I have been to many events...

When Desmas Duclair went on stage to receive his award with tears in his eyes, unable to speak...

When Dieunette Deliard was lost for words trying to explain how much sacrifice she made to realize her movie...

When the crowd started screaming "YES SIR" in response to a call for change by Sergeant Charmy...

When Suze Alexandre dedicated her award to all the mothers she represented in "LI SE MANMAN-M"...

When Stanley Bocco stopped being GERALDINE and became really serious on stage to give all the credits to her mother who was there to hear it directly from him...

When I saw all of that, I started thinking:

"Who am I to take that feeling away from them? Who am I to say that they didn't deserve it? Who am I to belittle the evening and put a scar in their memory I know will last a lifetime."

I cannot to do that.

belfim.com/picture-6377Instead, I will continue to look for more stories to tell.

There is always a story to tell, no matter what happens.

Here is what I know.

In life, you will fail seven out of 10 times. Frantson Saintilien should be praised for trying. He has only tried twice so far and he has to try 8 more times before we can really judge him.

If 3 of the 10 events are considered a success. well... by US standards, that's enough to make it to the hall of fame.

I hope you enjoyed reading my story as much as I enjoyed collecting it for you.

Until next time,

I am Woodring Saint Preux and I said it.

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