By Tanya Batson, Staff Reporter
Patrons at the weekly Pinte put on by the Jamaica German Society enjoy drinks and good vibes. The society promises multiples of that on Friday at its annual Oktoberfest, which was launched last Friday at the society's 14 Worthington Avenue headquarters. The fest will feature German band Nobody's Perfekt as well as the local group, Mile High. - Michael Sloley /Freelance Photographer
HAITIAN WRITER, director, producer and editor Raoul Peck will this year receive the Doctor Bird Caribbean Award.
Peck's artistic vision has earned him a lot of respect in the film community. His upbringing and education are as international as the following he has earned. Born in Haiti, Peck grew up in Zaire (Congo), and France and was educated in Zaire, Fance and Germany.
A former Minister of Culture in Haiti, Peck's work involves socio-political commentary. His latest work, Profit and Nothing But! Or Impolite Thoughts on The Class Struggle, of which he is the writer and director is no different.
One of the few film-makers who have been successful in making both feature films and documentaries, his artistic vision, as well as historical and political insight, have earned Peck several awards. These include two from the Human Rights Watch Organisation in New York: the 1994 Nestor Alemendros and the 2001 Irene Diamond Lifetime Achievement awards. Peck has also been decorated with the Honour and Merit Order (Knight) in Haiti and the Order of Arts and Literature (Knight) in France.
Although he has won several awards for his work, one of his most prolific is Peck's biography of Patrice Lumumba, the first Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The full length feature film, Lumumba, produced in 2000, won over six awards in 2001. It received the award for Best Film Pan African Film Festival, LA; the Paul Robeson Award, Fespaco; the award for best film Santo Domingo International Film Festival; the Audience Prize, Best Actor, Jury Prize and Grand Prize OCIC 11th African Film Festival, Milan Italy; and the award for Best Film by A Foreign Director Acapulco Black Film Festival.
Peck's work had received recognition before this, however. His first award-winning full-length feature film Haitian Corner was made for only US$150,000. At that time he was still a student of the German Film and Television Academy.
His 1992 documentary on Lumumba, titled Lumumba: Death of a Prophet, earned Peck, the Procirep Prize, Festival du Reel and Best Documentary at the Montreal Film Festival. This piece marked his re-entry into the world of film after retiring from the Haitian parliament.
1993 was also a critically successful year for Raoul Peck. His film L'Homme Sur Les Quais (The Man By the Shore), was the first Haitian film to be released in the United States and was that year selected for competition at the Cannes Film Festival, becoming the first Caribbean film to earn this privilege.
Peck has also directed the films, Chere Cathering and Haiti: Silence of the Dogs. He is the President of the Caribbean Federation of Film and Video, a member of the German Writer's Guild, and a member of the influential French Authors/Directors/Producer's Guild (ARP). He was named the President of the French commission Fond Sud in April 2000. The commission allocates production funds of US$2.5 million in over 85 countries.
