Amistad Films is a group of concerned international friends who have joined forces to enhance Haiti’s image, hence the name Amistad which mean “Friendship” in Spanish. It was founded in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in 2004 by filmmaker Mario L. Delatour with the intent of showcasing the lesser known aspects of Haitian culture and history. Over the last 25 years, Haiti’s image has been badly tarnished in mainstream media as a result of its chronic ills. Television viewers the world over were battered with agonizing images of a torn country desperately clinging on to its national dignity. Sadly enough, Haiti became synonymous to political instability, social unrest and glaring images of abject poverty, a sad truth not gone unnoticed to filmmaker Mario Delatour, who field produced in Haiti for many years. As a filmmaker who also serviced the needs of numerous film crews in Haiti, Delatour witnessed first hand how foreign networks often presented a slanted view of Haiti’s reality by reducing complex issues to mere simplicity. In this world of easily digestible information and tailored clichés it suffices to introduce Haiti as The hemisphere’s poorest country. By now most everyone has become quite familiar with the phrase! Never mind that Haiti was the first country to abolish slavery in the Americas, that it paid a dear price for its early independence, that it produced great literary works and fine art, the phrase would now serve as Haiti’s introduction to the rest of the world. It is in this spirit that Amistad Films was born: to promote quality films about the achievements of the Haitian people, to showcase the rich history that is Haiti and to present alternative images of Haiti to international and Haitian audiences. In the wake of the devastating earthquake of January 12th, 2010, Amistad Films is committed to preserving Haiti’s history as so much of its national heritage has been reduced to rubble. In a country where half of the population is under 22 years of age, Amistad Films is particularly aware of the need of the Haitian youth to learn about their history, society and culture from a Haitian perspective. We hope that you’ll enjoy our productions and that you’ll support us in our quest to bring you quality and insightful films about Haiti. |
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Mario L. Delatour was born in Caracas Venezuela on September 26, 1955 to Haitian parents and spent his formative years in New York. Delatour studied film at Columbia School of Motion Pictures and Television in Los Angeles, California from 1976 to 1978. He then went on to UCLA where he received a B.A in Latin American studies and a Minor in Third World Cinema. Upon graduation, he went to work for Warner Bros at the Burbank film studios in North Hollywood where he worked on a variety of television shows notably Fantasy Island, Dukes of Hazards & Flamingo Road. By 1986 he was back in his homeland Haiti working as a field producer for ABC News. Over the years as Haiti experienced great social turmoil, Delatour collaborated with a number of high profile journalists notably Diane Sawyer of ABC News, Dan Rather and Mike Wallace of CBS News with whom he did three“Sixty Minutes”pieces. Though his talents drifted more into television, he never abandoned his initial love for feature films. In 1987 Mr. Delatour was hired as a liaison person on the Hollywood film “Serpent and the Rainbow” by director Wes Craven. In 1994, he was hired as a Production Manager on the “Kingdom” TV series directed by Danish Director Lars Von Trier. That same year Universal pictures hired him to organize a location scouting trip to Haiti for Academy Award screenwriters Stephen Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson. The two writers were developing a screenplay for the motion picture project “Rockwood”. In 1999 Ron Howard’s company Imagine Entertainment sent for him in Japan to supervise a location scouting trip to Haiti and the Dominican Republic with New Zealand director Lee Tamahori. In 2001, he was hired as a Production Manager on the French / Canadian film “Royal Bonbon”, the film was shot entirely in the northern part of Haiti. His most recent work has been done with acclaimed Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck who used his services on the newly released feature film “Moloch Tropical”. An experienced documentary filmmaker, Delatour founded in 2004 Amistad Films. He is currently working on two film projects. |
Jaime Piña entered the Film Industry in 1974 in his native country Dominican Republic with the Paramount Picture venture to produce movies in the country through Cinema Dominicana, based out of La Romana, R.D. In between Feature Film Production, Piña has produced some 300 T.V. Commercials, 50 Music Videos, 20 documentaries. |
Vanessa Paul, of Haitian and German origins, has supported the management of international development projects in Haiti and the Caribbean for the World Bank and the French NGO Inter Aide. Her experience has led her to work in a wide range of areas encompassing social development, education, microfinance and governance. Recognizing the power of film to educate and raise awareness, and as a result, to help promote better policies and behaviors, she produced her first documentary, “Understanding the War on Terror” (2002) while still a student. At Amistad Films, she has worked as a scriptwriter and researcher on numerous institutional films notably the documentary “The Haitian Red Cross,75 years of service to the community.” She holds two M.A degrees in Development and International Cooperation from the University of Sorbonne (Paris, France) and in Political Science and International Relations from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques of Aix-en-Provence (France). |
Roberto Stephenson, haitian Italian, was born in Rome in 1964 where he lived till 1998. After his studies in graphic design, he now spends 2 years as an assistant photographer and finally specializes in architectural photography to which he dedicates himself full time till his departure for England. In the meanwhile, he also researches within experimental professional photography to the point to combine the two disciplines. His photos were published in several architectural magazines and books. He lived in Jordan, Syria, London, New York and India. He now lives in Haiti since year 2000. His artistic career, though, started seriously only in 1998 with his exhibition on urban landscapes of Rome’s suburbs. He then exhibited in London-England, New York-USA, Ahmedabad-India, Miami-USA, Port au Prince-Haiti, Santo Domingo-Dominican Republic, Oslo-Norway, La Havana-Cuba, Bamako-Mali, Paris-France, Berlin-Germany, San José-Costa Rica, Fort-de-France-Martinique, Milano-Italy, Réunion Island, Porto Rico, Montreal-Canada In 2003 he published a book on haitian homes interieurs with artist Marie-Louise Fouchard who also is his partner in life, and a second book, as an intimate look on his first three years in Haiti. His photos appear in many other publications and exhibitions catalogues. In 2006 he started MWEM, a non profit foundation where he had photography courses, photoshop courses and a Cine-Club. www.robertostephenson.com |