FREDA
Haitian actress-turned-director Gessica Généus' (DOUVAN JOU KA LEVE) bold feature debut premiered to critical acclaim at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, cementing Généus' reputation as a filmmaker to watch. A tribute to Haiti's youth, the film tells the story of Freda (Néhémie Bastien), a strong-willed young woman struggling to decide whether to leave the violence of Haiti for the chance of a better life. Despite forging a life for herself in volatile Port-au-Prince as an anthropology student while supporting her family in her mother's small convenience store, Freda is encouraged by her boyfriend Yeshua (Jean Jean, WOODPECKERS) to move away from the violence and to his "safer" home in Santo Domingo. But leaving isn't so simple for her. If she's gone, who will look after her pious mother, impulsive sister and unmotivated brother? And is it better to stay and fight than it is to leave? FREDA is a fresh and authentic look at womanhood and familial relationships, and a powerful interrogation of the fraught legacy of colonialism in Haiti. (Note adapted from the BFI London Film Festival.) Winner, François Chalais Award - Special Mention, 2021 Cannes Film Festival; Winner, Knight Marimbas Award, 2022 Miami Film Festival. Official Selection, 2021 London Film Festival and 2022 International Film Festival Rotterdam. DIR/SCR Gessica Généus; PROD Jean-Marie Gigon. Haiti/Benin/France/Qatar, 2021, color, 99 min. In Haitian Creole and French with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
Run Time: 99 Minutes
Opening Date: Sunday, June 12, 2022
Genre: Drama
