July
2010: DJA-Rara's 20th Anniversary Summer Check out DJA-Rara every Sunday of the summer in
Prospect Park. There's now three raras on Sundays that start
up around 7-8pm - around the time the African Drum Circle
is finishing. Here's a map:
June,
2010 PBS Broadcast Announced:
We're excited to announce "The Other Side of the Water"
will be broadcast on PBS this fall as a part of the Afropop
series produced by the National
Black Programming Consortium. NBPC also provided a generous
finishing grant. More details soon...
February
2010 - Haiti Earthquake
>.
Photos
of bandmember Lesly Jean Marie's house- and flowers where
his nephew lies burried
So
much has been said about the scale of the destruction on Haiti
and the magnitude of the disaster, it doesn’t need repeating.
On a personal level, co-producer Magali Damas contacted her
family and found they were all alive and up in the hills outside
the capital. In terms of the band, most were able to contact
immediate family and found they were okay. However Lesly,
the graj player, learned that he lost ten members of his family
- three of them still buried under rubble - and three more
are badly injured. A number of other band members have still
not been able to make contact. Almost everyone has lost extended
family and lost homes.
We've
been fortunate to be a part of some beautiful benefit events
in the past few weeks, and happy that the film is being used
to raise awareness and understanding about Haitian culture
and the Haitian community in New York.
The
news from Haiti is still heartbreaking, and the progress very
slow, so we hope the energy and focus can continue into the
long rebuilding process.
We've
received some really moving feedback recently, including this
letter from an audience member that we wanted to share:
Magi,
I just wanted to thank you and Jeremy for bringing RaRa
to Brooklyn Museum for Target Free Saturdays. I, like everyone
have been overwhelmed by the amount of loss that has transpired
in Port-Au-Prince this past month. My family has already
experienced so much loss already and I felt myself beginning
to feel bitterness towards Americans who never seemed to
care about Haitians before and all of sudden grew some feelings
because of the magnitude of this tragedy.
I found my soul again on Saturday night because of the film
you guys so courageously created. I rediscovered my love
for humanity and the RaRa almost like baptism , simply washed
my bitterness away.
So merci beaucoup and mad props to you and Jeremy again
for creating an environment where Haitian people can carry
ourselves with dignity and pride once more.
Peace and Blessings,
Nancy Moricette
Videos
of DJARARA's performance at the Brooklyn Museum HERE.
Photos from DCTV Screening/Performance HERE
Benefit at The Livingroom with La Troupe Makandal HERE
Past
News:
Sunday,
June 6, 4pm: Screening at NOLA
Contemporary Arts Center 900 Camp St. New Orleans, LA
(Closing of Art of Haiti Exhibit)
Friday
March 12th: Haiti Chérie Benefit, la venue NYC Featuring fine Haitian cuisine, DJARARA, Tabou Combo,
Emeline Michel... http://haiticheriebenefit.com/
Wednesday
February 24: Film Screening at Mercy Corps Action Center
7pm
6 River Terrace, Battery Park City, New York, NY www.actioncenter.org
Tuesday
February 23rd: Film Screening at Latino Commission on AIDS
6-8pm at 24 West 25th Street, 10th Floor, New York, NY www.latinoaids.org/
In
collaboration with the
Alan Lomax Archive and La
Troupe Makandal we held a special party/performance/screening
to celebrate the release of the
Haiti Box Set - a massive compilation of film and audio
Alan Lomax recorded in Haiti from 1936-7.
The event was held at
the Livingroom in NYC.
Read
Sasha Frere-Jones recent round table discussion in the NEW
YORKER MAGAZINE about rara music, featuring Edwidge Danticat
11/24/09
"Cultures on Parade" at the New School
"Cultures
on Parade" was a special screening and discussion on
at the New School featuring "The Other Side of the Water"
and "Play Mas" by Michelle Stephenson. Info here:
http://www.newschool.edu/eventDetail.aspx?id=36435
9/7/09
Return to BAM
On Labor Day, September 7th, we returned to the Brooklyn Academy
of Music. It was a wonderful day of screenings, which we attended
while running back and forth to the Eastern Parkway Carnival.
Thanks to the Creatively Speaking series and everyone who
came out!
7/12/09
Screening
at the Caribbean Tales Film Festival
Toronto
Canada. More information HERE
6/6/09
Screening at The Hollywood Black Film Festival
Info HERE
and link to radio interviews on Sak
Pase California
_________
5/09
"The Haitian Rara Experience" in Miami
From
May 21st-24th Miami hosted "The Haitian Rara
Experience": a 4-day festival of film screenings,
workshops, parties, and music events. The main event was the
Theatrical Premiere of "The Other Side of the Water"
at the historic Colony Theatre on Miami Beach, followed by
a live performance of Brooklyn's DJARARA.
The musicians from DJARARA went in force to DC for the Obama
Inauguration.
Check out their full historic journey HERE
_________
12/08
Re-Launching Educational Workshops:
This year
we're re-launching our educational programs in high schools
and universities. Over the past few years the filmmakers and
the musicians of DJARARA have teamed up to create workshops,
presentations, and cultural events across the country. We
toured NYC high schools through Carnegie Hall's educational
program (photos here),
presented to musicology and sociology classes from Amherst
to Bard College to Connecticut College, and worked with Haitian
Student Associations at schools including Columbia University
and SUNY Binghamton. If you're interested in finding out more
or hosting an educational event, contact us at othersideofthewater@gmail.com
"The
Other Side of the Water" was proud to be a part of the
12th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival in NYC - presented by
BET and HBO. Stay tuned for information on our upcoming festivals
and theatrical premiere in NYC slated for February 2009.
Sneak
Preview at Brooklyn Academy of Music BAM Rose Cinema. Afterparty
featuring DJARARA and Master Drummer Fritzner Augustine -
August 28th, 2008. Click HERE
for link to BAM page...
Photos from our Sneak Preview at Brooklyn Academy of Music
visit our Flickr Photostream Here
1/08:
We've finally picture-locked the documentary! The Other Side
of the Water is now in the finishing stages and we're excited
to be working with graphic arist Ben Fine (visual effects
editor for Oscar Nominated "Enron: the Smartest Guys
in the Room") and sound
mixer Anne Pope (sound editor for Oscar winner "Born
into Brothels"). Stay tuned for our launch this
spring and summer...
_________
7/07
The Backyard Show comes to Brooklyn
Host
Nati Dred of The Backyard Show with DJA-Rara [photo: Johny
Jacques]
In July
a crew from The Backyard Show flew up from Miami to New York
and taped two shows on Haitian roots culture in Brooklyn.
The first show focused on DJA-Rara and our documentary, the
second on other Haitian roots musicians. The Backyard Show
is an great new arts and culture talk show that’s making
a lot of noise in Miami [Look up their recent article in Miami
Herald or link to their site
here].
It was a hectic but fun taping – with a live audience
and all! Five Myles art gallery provided the space, HaitiXchange
came by, as well as come great artists and Brooklyn culture
heads. Check out pics here,
and the show should be up on the Backyard website in a few
weeks…
_________
4/07
Clips from doc being shown at Brooklyn Historical Society:
photo:Delphine A. Fawundu-Buford Clips
from the documentary were featured in an exhibit called "A
Drum Beats in Brooklyn" at the Brooklyn Historical Society.
The exhibit focuses on drum-based and African-influenced cultures
in Brooklyn, and runs from February 14th to May 13th, 2007.
Info at
the BHS website
.
_________
4/07
Short-film in Festivals:
In 2005 we made an 11-minute
work-in-progress that we called "Brooklyn Racine."
Soon word got out, and the short was requested by a number
of film festivals. Here's the list to date:
3/07
Recent Screenings and Presentations at Universities:
The filmmakers have teamed up with the musicians of DJA-Rara
to give a series of presentations at colleges and universities
in the Northeast.
April
07: Connecticut College
February 07: Columbia University
October 06: SUNY Binghamton
September 06: Amherst College
April 07: Connecticut College
_________
2/07:
BAND
NEWS: DJA-Rara's
latest studio track "Zwazo Vole" was singled out
by Afropop Worldwide as one of the top Carnival songs for
2007 (click
here for the link
), and has been on dozens of top-10 lists by critics and fans.
For other info on performances and events by Djarara and Friends,
click HERE
_________
4/06
Through the Carnegie Hall Global Encounters Program
The Other Side of the Water and DJA-Rara visit high school
classrooms in Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, and Manhattan. We screened
clips from the documentary, talked about the history of rara,
and taught students to play drums and kone horns. SEE
PHOTOS HERE.
April
28th, 2006: Carnegie Hall's Neighborhood Concert Series
presents a screening of 10 minutes from Other Side of the
Water and a performance by DJA-Rara at CUNY's Caribbean Studies
Center. SEE
PHOTOS HERE.
_________
1/06:
Kurt Engfehr joins team as Consulting Editor. Kurt
Engfehr was editor and co-producer of “Bowling for Columbine”
and “Fahrenheit 911.” He was awarded the American
Cinema Editor’s award for best documentary editing in
2002 for his work on Bowling for Columbine, and we’re
excited to have him on board.
December
2nd 2006: WIP at "Homegrown" community film event
sponsored by the Prospect Lefferts Gardens Neighborhood Association
February
28th, 2005: Presentation at the Community School for Social
Justice, Bronx, NY
At BAM:
Filmmakers with staff of the 18 Mai Committee, HaitiXChage.com,
and Michele Montas - widow of slain journalist Jean Dominique
from "The Agronomist"
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