1937: Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent were exterminated by the Dominican army, based on anti-black hatred.
2013: the Dominican Republic stripped the citizenship of anyone with Haitian parents, retroactive to 1929 – rendering hundreds of thousands stateless, without rights and vulnerable to deportation from the country they call home.
This is why human rights lawyer Rosa Iris – a Dominican of Haitian descent – mounts a grassroots campaign to fight for social justice.
Both context-specific and disarmingly universal, this nuanced film explores the fraught relationship between two countries sharing the same island, the rhetoric behind the political decision to render people stateless, and the demonisation of those who stand up against it.
Genesis Cinema, Friday 18 June 6:20pm. THIS IS A SOCIALLY DISTANCED CINEMA SCREENING organised by the London Migration Film Festival.
Live Q&A with:
Amal de Chickera, Co-founder and co-director of the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion
Joshua Castellino, Executive Director of Minority Rights Group
Eve Hayes De Kalaf, Haiti Support Group Executive Committee Member
Chaired by Lily Parrott, Co-director of London Migration Film Festival