Kanaval: A People's History of Haiti in Six Chapters (2022)

Africadelic Festival presents a special screening, together with Caribbean Creativity, of this visually arresting award-winning documentary that is set in the present but tells the rich story of Haiti’s past, as we follow a number of carnival performers in the lead up to and during the annual Jacmel Mardi Gras. These performers relate their own personal histories as well as the stories of their carnival characters, representing moments and people from the distant and not so distant Haitian past. Interwoven with the interviews, testimonies and observational footage, is archive material drawn from a wide variety of sources to enhance our understanding of Haitian history and culture from the time of the indigenous Taino through to the present day. 

The film will be introduced by Haitian archaeologist and ethnographer Joseph Sony Jean and preceded by two short films about Caribbean carnaval: Fragments of Carnival (2024, 4') and Who In Da Mornin (2023, 7'). The director of the first one Kristof West will be present for a short intro. The screening is to commemorate the 220th anniversary of Haitian independence.