Tuesday, August 24, 2010

African Remembrance Day Film: Poto Mitan

On Saturday, the BFI screened “Pto Mitan” as part of its African Remembrance Day programme. This documentary depicts the lives of five Haitian women living in abject poverty in urban Haiti. Each woman tells her own story.

Remember, this film was made before the earthquake disaster. The situation now is even worse.

In traditional Haitian religion, Poto Mitan is a pole around which all activity centers. The film makes the point that in Haitian society, everything rests on the women.

In Haiti, the majority of families are single-parent families with female heads of households. So when women are struggling, the whole of the family and thus the whole of the society struggles.

To read more about this striking documentary, see: Two Films about Haiti.

Click here for the African Remembrance Day show on What U Need to Know.

See also: Jamaica for Sale.

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