Film: “Chevalier”

This week (April 21, 2023) is the release of the 2022 film Chevalier in the United States by Searchlight Pictures. Chevalier had its world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2022. Based on a true historical character from the French Caribbean, composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, this film was directed by Jamaican Canadian filmmaker Stephen Williams.

Description: Inspired by the incredible true story of composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges. The illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner, Bologne (Kelvin Harrison Jr. in a tour de force performance) rises to improbable heights in French society as a celebrated violinist-composer and fencer, complete with an ill-fated love affair and a falling out with Marie Antoinette (Lucy Boynton) and her court.

See official trailer here:

Rating: PG-13 (Thematic Content|Suggestive Material|Some Strong Language|Violence)

Genre: Biography, History, Drama, Music

Original Language: English

DirectorStephen Williams

ProducerEd GuineyAndrew LoweDianne McGunigleStefani Robinson

WriterStefani Robinson

Release Date (Theaters): Apr 21, 2023

Runtime: 1h 47m

Distributor: Searchlight Pictures

Production Co: Stillking Films, Element Pictures, Searchlight Pictures

Sound Mix: Dolby Digital

Also see https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chevalier_2022

See reviews at https://repeatingislands.com/2023/04/17/chevalier-review-a-conventional-musical-biopic-with-an-electrifying-opening-salvo/

An expert’s guide to Jean-Michel Basquiat…

Repeating Islands

[Many thanks to Veerle Poupeye (Critical.Caribbean.Art) for bringing this item to our attention.] “An expert’s guide to Jean-Michel Basquiat: four must-read books on the American artist” presents “All you ever wanted to know about Basquiat, from his best quotes to an ‘intimate insight’ from his family—selected by the curator Dieter Buchhart” for The Art Newspaper.

The American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat led a whirlwind existence, harnessing the urgency of street art and taking the 1980s New York art world by storm before his untimely death in 1988, aged just 27. Since then, his legend has grown while prices for his work have skyrocketed. He has been the subject of several major institutional shows recently, many of which have been curated by the Basquiat expertDieter Buchhart.The latest one,a look at Basquiat’s collaborations with Andy Warhol,opens at Paris’s Fondation Louis Vuitton this month. As well as recommending essays…

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Le BUMIDOM selon une approche interdisciplinaire

“Le BUMIDOM selon une approche interdisciplinaire” [The BUMIDOM in Interdisciplinary Perspectives] is a 2-day conference, with presentations in English and French, taking place on Thursday, June 22 and Friday, June 23, 2023, at the University of Liverpool. Registration is now open (until June 1, 2023).

Conférenciers invités : Audrey Célestine, H Adlai Murdoch, Jessica Oublié

Description : L’année 2023 marque le 60ème anniversaire de la création du BUMIDOM par le gouvernement français, donc il est temps de réfléchir sur les conséquences de ce programme d’émigration organisée. Le BUMIDOM (Bureau pour le développement des migrations dans les départements d’outre-mer) a facilité l’émigration de 160 000 travailleurs de la Martinique, de la Guadeloupe, de la Guyane et de la Réunion vers la métropole entre 1963 et 1982. Pour certains, l’émigration était une expérience positive qui contribuait à la promotion sociale, mais pour d’autres elle était synonyme de l’exploitation. La migration s’est souvent produite selon des critères genrés et raciaux car les responsables gouvernementaux ont puisé dans les stéréotypes sur les hommes et les femmes antillais, puis ont orienté les opportunités professionnelles autour de ces stéréotypes.

Aujourd’hui la discrimination raciale sévit encore en France (et ailleurs), et par conséquent il est d’autant plus important d’analyser ce cas particulier de racisme institutionnel et de réfléchir à ce que signifie être Noir et Français aujourd’hui. Le colloque réunira des universitaires et des artistes de diverses disciplines, y compris l’histoire, les études culturelles et les sciences politiques. Les conférenciers invités sont : Dr Audrey Célestine, Professeur H Adlai Murdoch, et Jessica Oublié. On aura l’occasion de visiter l’exposition ‘Leaving for the “Metropole”: An Odyssey of the Working-class’, organisée par Patrick Semiramoth et Willy Vainqueur et traduite en anglais par la Dr Antonia Wimbush.

À voir : https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-bumidom-in-interdisciplinary-perspectives-tickets-580741843487, https://repeatingislands.com/2023/04/05/the-bumidom-in-interdisciplinary-perspectives/ (en anglais) et https://www.fabula.org/actualites/111055/the-bumidom-in-interdisciplinary-perspectives-le-bumidom-selon-une-approche-interdisciplinaire.html (en français).

Arnold Antonin wins prize for « Ainsi parla la Mer » 

Bidler Nelson (for Rezo Nòdwes) recently announced that Haitian director Arnold Antonin won the Grand Prize at the 16th edition of Festival Terra—Festival du film de l’environnement et du développement durable de Guadeloupe [Environmental and Sustainable Development Film Festival of Guadeloupe]—for his 2020 film Ainsi parla la Mer [Thus Spoke the Sea].

The documentary film by Haitian director and producer Arnold Antonin, “Thus spoke the Sea,” received the Guadeloupe Environmental Film Grand Prize at the 16th edition of the Guadeloupe Environmental and Sustainable Development Film Festival (Festival Terra).

In a video posted on his Facebook account, the filmmaker, also known as Celestini Corbanese, thanked the jury and the organizers of the festival for this distinction, which he considers a comfort, despite the vulnerability of the country and its ecosystem.

Produced with the support of the Ministry of the Environment and UN-Environment, the documentary film “Ainsi parla la Mer” highlights the degradation of the sea in Haiti which, according to Arnold, has become “a vast trash dump” over the time.

At the same time, Antonin shows through this film that the sea has much to teach us. “[The sea] offers us enormous possibilities to live well and feed ourselves. However, with global warming and pollution, it is threatened by death.”

The documentary film “Ainsi parla la Mer” has already won several awards.

In September 2020, the film won the prize for best medium-length film at the 16th edition of the International Human Rights Film Festival in Bolivia, and two other international distinctions at the Vues d’Afrique Festival in Montreal in April 2021.

Post translated by Ivette Romero. For original article (in French), see https://rezonodwes.com/?p=307469

DJ Erise feat. Aya Nakamura – « Pourquoi tu forces » [Clip Officiel]

Dis-moi pourquoi tu forces ?
J’ai mal à la tête, pourquoi tu forces ?
Dis-moi pourquoi tu forces ?
T’auras pas mon snap, pourquoi tu forces ?
Il a vu mes formes, il est (ayaya)
Tout c’qu’il lui fallait (ayaya)
Il a vu mes formes, il est (ayaya)
Tout c’qu’il lui fallait (ayaya)

[Couplet 1]
Il a un joli physique
Mais ce mec est plein de timiniks (oh yeah)
Oui, je sais qu’il est piqué
Faut aller molo, c’est pas compliqué
Je suis assez pudique
C’est pas si facile, le gars s’est trompé
Couleur ébène c’est la classe
Si tu veux goûter, faudra être patient

[Pré-refrain]
Ne jamais laisser filer une opportunité quand elle est bonne
J’avoue, j’fais la désirée, j’en fais des tonnes, et ouais je bombe
Il me questionne, il demande à ma pote si j’suis casée
Hors de question, pas le temps pour ça, non j’vais pas céder (ah non) [. . .]

Meryl « BB Compte »

Bébé, compte, compte
Compte les billets sur la table
Bébé, compte, compte
Compte les billets sur la table
Bébé, compte, compte
Compte les billets sur la table
Faut payer factures, faut payer essence
Faut payer l’loyer, faut payer la conso’, eh

J’ai acheté la voiture d’quinze mille euros
Faut payer l’assurance (bébé, compte)
Acheté le terrain, construit la maison
Faut payer les taxes (bébé, compte)
Gucci, Burberry, Louis, dans l’armoire
J’veux d’la concurrence (bébé, compte)
Bah, tu prends ton dû, divise en deux
Faut donner à l’État
L’argent est dehors toutes les saisons
J’ai quitté la maison et j’ai raison
Je veux me refaire, j’aime bien me saper
Papa a semé, faut partager
Mercredi des Cendres, c’était la fête
Neuf mois après, y a bébé naissant
P’tit bout de plastique au bout de la dick
T’aurais fait faire des économies

Bébé, compte, compte
Compte les billets sur la table
Bébé, compte, compte
Compte les billets sur la table
Bébé, compte, compte
Compte les billets sur la table
Faut payer factures, faut payer essence
Faut payer loyer, faut payer la conso’
Bébé, compte, compte, compte, compte
Compte les billets sur la table
Bébé, compte, compte, compte, compte
Compte les billets sur la table
Bébé, compte, compte, compte, compte
Compte les billets sur la table
Faut payer factures, faut payer essence
Faut payer loyer, faut payer la conso’

Ma foi m’appartient, arrivée à l’église
Faut payer la quête (bébé, compte)
Pas le droit d’être pauvre, même à découvert
Faut payer la banque (bébé, compte)
Pour la sécurité, faut serrer la ceinture
Les p’tits font la tête (bébé, compte)
L’amour, c’est gratuit
Mais si t’aimes la petite faut lâcher la rente
J’passe à la télé, je suis apprêtée
Ils veulent me maquer (ah)
En vrai, j’suis fâchée mais j’m’en bats les couilles
Ce soir, j’vais tout claquer, eh
Meilleur ouvrier mais ça sert à rien
Si ton patron est bègue (prime)
Moi, j’ramène le pain et une fois qu’c’est fait
J’les prends en sandwich

Bébé, compte, compte
Compte les billets sur la table
Bébé, compte, compte
Compte les billets sur la table
Les billets de cinq, les billets de dix
Les billets de vingt, billets de cinquante
Billets de cinquante, les billets de cent
Billets de deux cents, c’est beaucoup d’argent
Un peu pour l’avocat, un peu pour le comptable
Un peu pour les impôts, un peu pour maman
Un peu pour bébé, un peu pour la mala
Un peu pour manger et le reste, c’est pour vivre

Bébé, compte, compte
Compte les billets sur la table [. . .]

New Book: “The Zombie in Contemporary French Caribbean Fiction”

Lucy Swanson’s The Zombie in Contemporary French Caribbean Fiction (Liverpool University Press, 1 March 2023) explores the significance of the zombie as a metaphor and historical sign. [For original post, see The Zombie in Contemporary French Caribbean Fiction.]

Description: Believed to have emerged in the French Caribbean based on African spirit beliefs, the zombie represents not merely the walking dead, but also a walking embodiment of the region’s history and culture. In Haiti today, the zombie serves as an enduring memory of enslavement: it is defined as a reanimated body robbed of part of its soul, forced to work in sugarcane fields. In Martinique and Guadeloupe, the zombie takes the form of a shape-shifting evil spirit, and represents the dangers posed to the maroon or ‘freedom runner.’ The Zombie in Contemporary French Caribbean Fiction is the first book-length study of the literary zombie in recent fiction from the region. It examines how this symbol of the enslaved (and of the evil spirits that threaten them) is used to represent and critique new socio-political situations in the Caribbean. It also offers a comprehensive and focused examination of the ways contemporary authors from Haiti and the French Antilles contribute to the global zombie imaginary, identifying four ‘avatars’ of the zombie-the slave, the trauma victim, the horde, and the popular zombie-that appear frequently in fiction and anthropology, exploring how works by celebrated and popular authors reimagine these archetypes.

Lucy Swanson is Assistant Professor of French & Francophone Studies at the University of Arizona.

For more information, see https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-zombie-in-contemporary-french-caribbean-fiction-9781802077995  

Euzhan Palcy receives honorary Oscar

Earlier this year, Martinican director Euzhan Palcy was awarded an honorary Oscar for her entire corpus at the 13th edition of the Governors Awards on Saturday, November 19, 2022, in Los Angeles, California. Évelyne Chaville reports for Kariculture.net.

It was American actress and producer Viola Davis (the first black woman to receive an Oscar in 2017) who gave her the much-coveted statuette. [. . .] For this “great emotional moment”, the 64-year-old director gave a vibrant speech in English: “I hate my accent when I speak English”, she said, asking guests to support her with applause.

Euzhan Palcy first quoted the African proverb: “If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together.”

“No one reaches this stage (referring to where she was that Saturday night) alone. I would not be here without the wisdom and love of all those who joined me in my journey”, said the director, certainly thinking about how far she has come since her first TV film entitled “La Messagère” when she was only 17 years old and her first film “Rue Cases-Nègres” in 1983…

Then, she thanked, among others, her grandmother Camille, her father Léon, her mother Mireille, her mentors Aimé Césaire, François Truffaut as well as Robert Redford who, in 1985, opened the doors of the Sundance (American independent film festival) writing workshops to her where she could write her film “A Dry White Season”.

Euzhan Palcy did not forget to warmly thank all the spectators from all over the world because, according to her, it is thanks to them that her films became today “classics”. She also thanked the Almighty God.

To those who asked why she has not offered any films to the public in recent years, Euzhan Palcy replied: “If I did not make films for a few years, it is because I decided to keep silent, I kept silent because I was exhausted, I was so tired of being told that I was a pioneer (…) Black is not bankable, female is not bankable, Black and female are not bankable. Come on, guys, look at my sister Viola standing by me!”, she declared. American actress is currently starring in “The Woman King”, a film about the female warriors responsible for protecting the Kingdom of Dahomey (now Benin) in the 19th century…

Martinican director continued her plea for diversity in cinema: (…) Black is bankable, female is bankable, Black and female are bankable”, with as a witness the famous African American actor Chadwick Boseman of “Black Panther” (a film that has earned $1.3 billion), who died in 2020 at the age of 43. Euzhan Palcy underlined her desire to unite the world through her art: “My camera, my miraculous weapon. With my camera, I don’t film, I heal (…) My stories are not black, my stories are not white, my stories are universal, they are colourful”. [. . .]

For full article, visit https://www.kariculture.net/en/euzhan-palcy-received-an-honorary-oscar-at-the-13th-edition-of-the-governors-awards/

Meryl “Wollan”

J’adore sa voix ! Ici Meryil chante en créole martiniquais, mais « Wollan » en créole jamaïquain (patois) veut dire « Hold on » : attendre / patienter. La vidéo nous donne la transcription en français.

[The song centers on this idea: “Don’t tell me to hold on (to wait); Don’t make me waste my time!”]

[Intro]
Atann, atann, atann
Mwen ja paré baw, pa di mwen atann
Atann atann
Pa fè mwen pèd tan mwen si sa mô
Sa mô, sa mô

Mwen ja paré baw, pa di mwen atann
Atann, tann

[Couplet 1]
Sa sé real life, pani cinéma
Sa fè an moman mwen sizé là
Long time mwen ja wèw mais mwen pa ka di ayen
Ayen, ayen
Ou kay pété bal avan
Baby baby, sa ki fèt fèt
Lè sé la fêt, fidji mwen ka pèd tèt
Mwen pa kouyon mwen baw numéro a
Pwèmyé whatsapp, a pa té mwen
Mové tan’w la, mwen pa ka brinin an patat’
Mais o swè fodré nou wayne pon di track
Mwen ké kitéw vini
Lè ou cho, palé ba mwen
“Lovinjitis” pou nou pé aliyé
Mwen sav mwen pa tou sèl, mwen ké fè yo pé-é
Sa yo fèw avan mwen sa pawticuliyé
Sé dwèt pou sa ou pôkô sav sa ou lé

[Refrain]
Baby mwen cho, wollan, no pa di mwen wollan
Mwen ja paré baw pa di mwen wollan
Baby mwen cho, wollan, no pa di mwen wollan
É si ou paré an nou ba mwen an lè
Baby wollan no fo pa di mwen wollan

[Couplet 2]
As a real grown woman an péké pétayé
Mwen ja wè kè ou ka prilé, an ka gadéw en zyéw
Braw alantou mwen, an ka senti’m médayé
Ou poko konèt mwen mé sav yo pa té paré
Sinkè d’maten pa kouté lèspwiw, ba mwen lanmen
Lè lapôt’ finmin, pa ka ni “non mais non mais”
Soutou pa kouté moun lè yo ka nommen nom mwen
Enfin vwala, lè ou cho an nou ba mwen an lhè

[Refrain] Baby mwen cho, wollan, no pa di mwen wollan
Mwen ja paré baw pa di mwen wollan
Baby mwen cho, wollan, no pa di mwen wollan
Et si ou paré an nou ba mwen an lè
Baby wollan no, fo pa di mwen wollan
Baby wollan no, fo pa di mwen wollan
Baby wollan no, fo pa di mwen wollan
Baby wollan no, fo pa di mwen wollan

[Couplet 3]
Mé di mwen sa ou pè
Oubliyé lézèks
Mwen sav kè sa té red
Mwen pé ké fèw lapenn
Baby baby, sa ki fèt fèt
Lè sé la fêt, fidji mwen ka pèd tèt
Mwen pa kouyon, mwen baw numéro a
Pwèmyé whatsapp, a pa té mwen

[Refrain] …