Section
Original title
Freda
Synopsis
Freda lives with her mother and brothers in a poor neighbourhood in Port-au-Prince. In the face of the poverty of their lives and the increased violence in Haiti, many ask whether they should stay on the island or leave it. But Freda wants to give a voice to a new generation of imaginative and creative young people who believe that Haiti can still have a future. A story of feminine resilience, from one generation to the next, in a country devastated by violence, corruption and a heavy colonial heritage.
Cast
Néhémie Bastien, Djanaïna François, Fabiola Rémy, Gaëlle Bien-Aimé, Jean Jean, Rolaphton Mercure, Cantave Kerven, Paula Clermont Pean
Films Distribution
SaNoSi Productions
Production
Sanosi Productions, Jean-Marie Gigon, Gessica Généus, Ayizan Production, Faissol Gnonlonfin, Merveilles Production
Editing
Gessica Généus
Cinematography
Karine Aulnette
Editing
Rodolphe Molla
Language
Haitian Creole, French
Subtitles
English, Italian
Premiere
Italian premiere
Main awards
François Chalais Award - Special Mention (Cannes Film Festival), Audience Award and Discovery Prize (Namur IFF), Best Sound (Fespaco, Festival Panafricain du Cinéma de Ouagadougou), Knight Marimbas Award (Miami Film Festival).
Biography
Gessica Généus is an actress, singer and director from Haiti. She worked on the reconstruction after the 2010 earthquake, working for the United Nations. She then won a scholarship to study acting in Paris. On her return to Haiti, she founded her production company and between 2014 and 2016 directed Our Faces, a series of portraits of important figures in contemporary Haitian society. In 2017, her documentary The Day Will Dawn obtained many awards at international festivals. Freda, her first fiction feature film, was presented at Un certain regard - Cannes 2021.
Filmography
2021 – Freda, ff
2017 – The Day Will Dawn, sf
2014-2016 – Our Faces, sf