Picture of the movie Freda © SaNoSi Productions
Freda as seen by Géssica Généus
For her first feature fiction film on the silver screen, actor and director Géssica Généus examines the issue of reconstruction: that of the people of Haiti following the catastrophe of 2010, and that of Freda, a young woman living in working-class uncertainty and insecurity.
Tell us what sparked the idea for your film.
My films are always rooted in an issue that haunts me: how one rebuilds over the ruins of trauma. Haitians are forced to carve out a space for themselves in a place where they were humiliated, mistreated, and enslaved, just as Freda must transcend the anger she feels for her mother who was unable to protect her from rape. I wanted to weave a story that would become a mirror through which people like me could observe, seeking to understand how one might live in this country where so much evil was committed, how one might inhabit a body subjected to so much suffering.
What was the atmosphere like on set? Do you have any anecdotes to share with us?
I feel the only right way to film is to create an artistic community, a family of people as passionate and crazy as I am. Filming in Haiti in the throes of crisis was pure madness. Shooting the film was about creating a space of mutual support and leading a daily battle. One evening, a neighbour decided to play his music at full blast, when we hadn’t finished filming. Everyone tried and failed to convince him to turn it down, and then I came out: he ended up agreeing. But as we were packing up for the day, his brothers arrived and heard about what had happened. They were so angry with him, it nearly ended in a fight. They were trying to diffuse the situation, and said to me: “He knows who you are and what your film is about, he has no right to hinder your crew and bring shame on our family”. These were the kinds of moments that gave us strength. Because we knew we weren’t alone.
What did you learn while making this film?
It isn’t the most talented people who succeed. It’s the people who want it the most.
Can you tell us about your next project?
I want to explore the relationships that people – Haitians – have with morality. Religion, prostitution, and homosexuality. What do they accept, and what do they reject, and why?
If you could ask any director any question, who and what would it be?
I’d tell Spike Lee that although I know everybody loves Do the Right Thing, it was Crooklyn that captured my imagination and triggered my desire to make films. I’d also like to tell Waad Al-Kateab and Edward Watts that For Sama (in Official Selection in 2019) saved my film. I saw it two months before we started filming, at a time when I was feeling lost and overwhelmed. Their boundless courage in making this film empowered me like nothing else!
