Wyclef Jean production "Ghosts of Cité Soleil" at Toronto Film Festival

bana2166 · Published by bana2166- 09-08-06

Film Title: Ghosts of Cité Soleil

Programme: REAL TO REEL

Director: Asger Leth

Country: Denmark/USA

Year: 2006

Language: English, Creole, French

Time: 88 minutes

Film Types: Colour/35mm

Rating: 14A

Ghosts of Cité Soleil

SCREENING TIMES at the Toronto Film Festival:
Saturday, September 09 9:30 PM VARSITY 8 Buy tickets now
Monday, September 11 9:15 AM ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM Buy tickets now
Saturday, September 16 8:45 PM CUMBERLAND 4 Buy tickets now

Production Company : Nordisk Film A/S

Canadian Distribution : Sony BMG Film

US Distribution : Sony BMG Film

Foreign Sales Agent : Nordisk Film International Sales

Executive Producer: Kim Magnusson, Cary Woods, George Hickenlooper, Jerry Duplessis, Wyclef Jean

Producer: Mikael Chr. Rieks, Tomas Radoor, Seth Kanegis

Written By: Asger Leth

Cinematographer: Milo? Loncarevic

Editor: Adam Nielsen

Production Designer: Asger Leth

Sound: Hans Møller

Music: Wyclef Jean, Jerry Duplessis

Principal Cast: Winson Jean (a.k.a. 2pac), James Petit Frère (a.k.a. Bily), Éleonore Senlis (a.k.a. Lele), Wyclef Jean

Meet 2pac and Bily, brothers with broad smiles and big guns. In the Haitian slum of Cité Soleil, 2pac and Bily are among a cadre of notorious gang leaders whose foot soldiers are known as chimères, or ghosts. Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide reputedly employed the chimères to attack his opponents. Director Asger Leth had remarkable access to this gang culture in the months leading up to Aristide?s overthrow in 2004. The resulting film is a Caribbean epic of family, love and violence.

2pac and Bily have big aspirations that sometimes collide. They both fall for the same woman, Lele, a French relief worker; she?s drawn to them even as she recognizes their ?power over life and death, including mine.? 2pac and Bily sometimes skirmish with each other?s soldiers. When everyone carries a gun and a spliff, tensions can escalate in a heartbeat.

Allegiances constantly shift: between 2pac and Bily, gang leaders and politicians, Aristide and the rebels. Bily wants to go legit and join Aristide?s Lavalas political party. 2pac is fed up with Aristide; he dreams of giving up guns and battling with rap lyrics instead. (Indeed, he takes his name from Tupac Shakur.)

In Ghosts of Cité Soleil, the camera achieves an astonishing intimacy, from bedroom romance to street warfare. The colours are saturated, with heat radiating from every surface. The director knows this country well: his father, Jørgen Leth, has made films in Haiti since the early eighties and lived there since 1991.

Wyclef Jean collaborates on the haunting score and also appears in the film. From Haiti, 2pac calls Jean on the phone in New York City. Cameras capture both ends of this conversation between two modern Haitian legends. It?s one of several points where the viewer might wonder, Is this for real? The larger-than-life drama of Haiti seems a world away from the comfort and security of the United States. When Jean gets off the phone, he remarks, ?That ain?t no Hollywood movie, that?s just the truth.?

- Thom Powers

Asger Leth has made several short films including Gala (96) and Again. Today (97) and worked as assistant director on Jørgen Leth?s documentary short New Scenes from America (02). He also was a writer and assistant director on Jørgen Leth and Lars von Trier?s feature documentary The Five Obstructions (03), which screened as part of the Festival?s Real to Reel programme. Ghosts of Cité Soleil (06) is his first feature-length film.

Associated with European Film Promotion,

an initiative supported by the

European Union?s MEDIA Programme.