Italian director Claudio Del Punta is hoping his new, hard-hitting film about the exploitation of Haitian sugar plantation workers in the Dominican Republic will focus public attention on abuses that have been repeatedly denounced by human rights groups.
"Haiti Cherie throws the spotlight on a tragedy that has been going on for many, many years," Del Punta said in an interview with ANSA on Friday.
He said he was thrilled Haiti Cherie had been selected for next month's Locarno Film Festival, where it will be the only Italian movie vying for the event's prestigious Golden Leopard.
"This should get people talking about the film and the problems it exposes," he said.
"The festival is interested in films dealing with strong social issues so I can't think of a better place for it to debut," said the 47-year-old Tuscan filmmaker.
Del Punta shot the movie in the Dominican Republic, where at least 500,000 Haitians toil on the country's sugar plantations in conditions described as modern-day slavery by international human rights organisations.
It recounts the tale of a Haitian couple and a 14-year-old boy who decide to escape their desperate lives on a plantation and make their way back to Haiti.
The main actors - Yeraini Cuevas and Valentin Valdez who play the couple and Jean Marie Guerin who plays the youngster - are all Haitians who actually work and live on the plantations.
The director stressed that while the film's plot was fictional, the experiences suffered by the characters were completely realistic.
"I wanted to show what life is like in the 'bateyes'," Del Punta said, referring to the encampments set up on the outskirts of the sugar plantations where the cane cutters are forced to live.
The workers live crowded together in the communal bateyes which usually lack running water, toilets, electricity and cooking facilities, as well as health care services and schools.
There are some 400 bateyes scattered across the Dominican Republic.
The cane cutters toil for up to 14 hours a day for what human rights organisation Amnesty International has termed "derisory wages" (typically the equivalent of $2.5 a day), while some are paid in vouchers which can only be used at plantation stores.
The freedom of workers to leave the bateyes is also often restricted, turning them into virtual prisons that are patrolled by armed guards.
A March 2007 report by Amnesty International detailed its long-standing concerns regarding discrimination, racism and xenophobia against Haitian migrants living in the neighbouring Dominican Republic and particularly its bateyes.
According to a 2005 world anti-slavery report funded by the European Union, claims of batey abuses by international authorities range from "murder to maltreatment, from mass expulsions to flagrant exploitation, from deplorable living conditions to the failure to acknowledge workers' rights".
Del Punta highlighted the contrast with the thriving tourist industry in a country visited by five million people, mostly Westerners, every year.
"They go for holidays in luxury resorts without realising that just 30 minutes away from these amazing beaches, a situation exists that is akin to the 1800s".
He said the blame lay with the Dominican government, military and industrialists.
"They all share responsibility because they're the ones reaping the benefits. This is knowing discrimination by a country towards its weaker, poorer neighbour," he said.
"I appeal to journalists to talk about this problem. The only solution is applying political pressure to the Dominican Republic to stop these abuses," he said.
Del Punta filmed Haiti Cherie - his fifth feature movie - between December 2005 and March 2006.
Initially unable to gain a producer's interest in the movie, he financed it entirely by himself, taking out a bank loan and shooting in digital.
The only person he took with him from Italy was the sound technician - the rest of the crew and cast he found locally on his arrival in the Dominican Republic.
He said a lot of the filming had to be done secretly and that twice he was kicked off plantations by troops.
"It was okay for me because I'm white and Western but for the actors it was very dangerous," he said.
Amnesty International praised the initiative.
Riccardo Nuri, spokesman for the Italian branch of the London-based organisation, told ANSA: "It's important that a film has taken on this highly serious problem.
"Cinema is a powerful tool for bringing issues which are often ignored by the traditional media to the public's notice".
Del Punta is now hoping participation in the Locarno Film Festival, which runs from August 1-8, will help him find a distributor for Haiti Cherie.
Asked if the actors would be attending, he replied: "Unfortunately no. They don't have a passport and are unable to leave the country. They are living in the bateyes and have never even seen a film in their lives".
