Project Detail

Ouvertures

Spectre Productions/The Living and the Dead Ensemble

Synopsis

Moving from the frozen landscapes of the Jura mountains to the urban centres of Port-au-Prince, Ouvertures brings the Haitian revolutionary Toussaint Louverture back to life. In France a Haitian researcher tries to read the past within the stratigraphic layers of Jurassic limestone, whilst in Haiti a group of young actors translate and rehearse scenes from 'Monsieur Toussaint', a play written by Édouard Glissant, that recounts the last days in the life of Louverture dying in exile in a prison cell in the Jura, 1803. Ghosts from the pantheon of Haitian history visit Louverture on his deathbed and put him to trial. As the play proceeds the actors become possessed by their characters, and eventually the ghost of Louverture joins the group and takes them on a voyage for a new kind of exile.
Official Selection Berlinale 2020 - Forum - World premiere

Details

Year: 2020
Type of project: Features
Running time: 140 min
Format: 16mm, HD video
Director: Louis Henderson, Olivier Marboeuf with The Living and the Dead Ensemble 1st Feature
Producer: Olivier Marboeuf
Co-Producer: Sarah Perks
Executive Producer: Cedric Walter
Editor: Louis Henderson
Screenwriter: Léonard Jean Baptiste, Mackenson Bijou, Rossi Jacques Casimir, Dieuvela Cherestal, James Desiris, James Fleurissaint, Louis Henderson, Cynthia Maignan, Olivier Marboeuf, Mimétik Nèg
Director of Photography: Louis Henderson, Diana Vidrascu
Sound: Mikael Barre, André Fevre, Louis Henderson, Antonio Lefeuvre, Jean Marcaisse Bellegarde, Roudie Rigaud Marcelin, Gabor Ripli, Jules Wysocki
Composer: João Polido
Principal cast: Léonard Jean Baptiste, Mackenson Bijou, Rossi Jacques Casimir, Dieuvela Cherestal, James Desiris, James Fleurissaint, Cynthia Maignan, Mimétik Nèg

Genre

Experimental Black

Production Status

Complete

Production Company

France, Haiti, UK co-production

Spectre Productions

11 allée Maurice Ravel
35 000 Rennes
France

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Sales Company

Phantom

6 rue Léon Frapié
75020 Paris
France