Ayiti Toma: In the Land of the Living

Under the protection of the United Nations and non-governmental organizations since the 2010 earthquake, Haiti tries to rebuild. Filmmaker Joseph Hillel seeks to demonstrate that this objective can only be achieved by taking into account the specificity of the Haitian culture. He examines the divisions between the elite and the less fortunate people, the ambiguity of the Western intervention and the need to study Haiti’s history in order to understand the present. To support his thesis, Hillel talks to Haitian intellectuals, followers of Voodoo and young survivors of the earthquake, as well as foreigners who know Haitian reality from within, including American actor Sean Penn.