21427: (Arthur) UK premiere of The Agronomist (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Tttnhm@aol.com

UK PREMIERE OF "THE AGRONOMIST"
A film-portrait of Haitian human rights activist and pioneering journalist, Jean Dominique.
Directed by JONATHAN DEMME (Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia)
7pm Wednesday, 28 April 2004 @ The Ritzy Cinema, Brixton, London SW9.

followed by book launch of Ian Thomson's book, "Bonjour Blanc: a journey through Haiti" (see below), and a discussion on the situation in Haiti today.
Tickets: £7 (conc. £5) Telephone booking - The Ritzy Cinema:  020 7733 2229(half of all proceeds go to the Haiti Support Group)

'The Agronomist' is the story of the Haitian people told through the eyes of Jean Dominique, a farming expert who became an agent for change in his Caribbean homeland before being shot to death on April 3, 2000 in his radio station's courtyard.
With the help of the microphone and his ''unquenchable faith as a militant for true change,'' as he once put it, Dominique spent most of his 69 years speaking out against those whom he believed were destroying his beloved country: presidents, militias, the military, and the United States.
Reviews: "Twice forced into exile by the dark threats of tyrannical leaders, the inspirationally courageous Dominique spoke for the ordinary workers and farmers who have suffered a blood-soaked century of murderous misrule...Featuring fascinating interviews with Dominique and his formidably impressive wife Michele Montas, director Jonathan Demme’s hard-hitting documentary goes to the tragic heart of what’s wrong with Haiti." - The Daily Mirror, 16 April 2004.
"The Agronomist is a documentary that has nothing to do with agricultural science and everything to do with the short life of Jean Dominique, the militant founder of a radical radio station in Haiti. Dominique worked as an agricultural specialist before buying the lease at Radio Haiti-Inter in 1968 and using it to campaign for better human rights. After seeing the mesmerising effect that the charismatic Dominique had on the Haitian people, it’s easy to understand the appeal of journalism over soil management....we watch as his wife, the journalist Michele Montas, broadcasts on Radio Haiti-Inter only a month after her husband’s murder. It is a devastating act of love and militancy." - The Times, 14 April 2004.
"A portrait of revolutionary courage and joy. If you want to know about the struggle for justice in Haiti, you must see this film. You must know Jean Dominque." - Pulse of the Twin Cities, 8 April 2004.
"No Fog of War ironies, no contrapuntal clowning à la Michael Moore, just good old-fashioned agit-cinema." - Financial Times, 14 April, 2004.
"'I tried to introduce information. Risky business'. These are the words of Jean Léopold Dominique, the man whose Radio Haiti Inter was the first to broadcast in Creole, whose newscasts challenged the Duvalier regime and its successors, and whose passion, style, and wit captivated the filmmaker Jonathan Demme." - Columbia Journalism Review, November 2003.


Writing in the Literary Review, Andy Kershaw describes 'Bonjour Blanc: A journey through Haiti' as "simply the best book I've read on Haiti....(Thomson) is a formidable historian and a first-class journalist."
JG Ballard in the Daily Telegraph wroter, "The best praise I can give to this superb and pulse-stopping book is to say that I read every page expecting it to end abruptly in mid-paragraph."______________________________________________

This email is forwarded as a service of the Haiti Support Group.
See the Haiti Support Group web site:www.haitisupport.gn.apc.org
Solidarity with the Haitian people's struggle for justice, participatory democracy and equitable development, since 1992.____________________________________________