Monday, December 8, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Laemmle Monica Film Center, Santa Monica
This award-winning film was shot secretly in Haiti during the dictatorship of Jean-Claude (“Baby Doc”) Duvalier by a collective of Haitian and American filmmakers, including Pennee Bender, DeeDee Halleck, and Kyle Kibbe. Most of the Haitians were affiliated with the Mouvement Haïtien de Libération. To protect their identities, the filmmakers created a fictional director, “Jacques Arcelin.” Credits on the restored film reveal their true identities for the first time. Given the violence, economic devastation, and chaos that plague Haiti, this film remains tragically relevant. Bitter Cane is a timeless documentary classic about the exploitation and foreign domination of the Haitian people.