“Counting history means taking responsibility”

Born in one of the poorest countries in Haiti, with 80% of the population below the poverty line, Peck made his major motion picture debut with fiction. Haitian horn (1988). In it, she reflected the suffering of the exile in New York, who was traumatized by it cruel torture in arrests for political reasons.

He watched the documentary, yet where Peck shined and created the series portraits of political and intellectual figures who defended the “desposeídos”.

Lumumba, the Congolese president who spent a short and revolutionary presidency, dedicated a documentary to her in 1990 and a fiction in 2000. And it has recently revived historical significance African-American writer and activist James Baldwin en I’m not your black man (2016) and the photographer who shaped it apartheid en Ernest Cole: Lost and Found (2024).

Orwell 2+2=5 It highlights the anti-colonial compromise of one of the most famous writers of the 20th century, the British George Orwelltitanic author 1984 (1949), which heralded the modern world of digital hypervigilance, u Home in Catalonia (1938), about his days as an international brigadier in the Spanish Civil War.

In his film, Peck focuses on the writer’s youthful experience in Burma, where he served as a politician for the British imperial government. Days of Burmafrom where condemns the arocidades of colonialism.

in the movie Peck mixes archival images with current onesregarding the war in Gaza or the rise of authoritarianism, draw a distinctive gift due to the systemic abuse of the disabled.

Please. Why do I hear about George Orwell?

Response. I have other authors on the list, but trying to get the content of a single book is extremely expensive and complex, as is the industry. In the case of Orwell, they offered me a very rare opportunity: You can use it all the time. It was impossible to decide no.

P. Orwell said that for the English to live well, many thousands of Indians must live in poverty.

R. It’s something that hasn’t changed. We care about the same economic system. We visited him in South Africa during the year apartheid. Who benefits? Europe and EE.UU. For this reason, the system will be replaced over the years. It is the same with Palestine and Israel. The story started on October 7. Contains hundreds of UN resolutions. If the whole story was told, it would change the perspective of many people. But to count it means to take responsibility.

P. When did you start watching the movie?

R. It was essential to find an organic link between Orwell’s thinking and to be able to approach history and politics. In all my films I need to feel scared by the theme, the characters, and I was afraid that Orwell could not help me. So that the film could be something more intellectual, more distant. But in the end, I’m tired of feeling completely involved as an individual.

Universal view

P. Orwell talks about racism and discrimination. What are the common points between James Baldwin and James Baldwin?

R. Absolutely. Both tried to address the other, de get off your desk. They were extremely critical.

»There is no more effective analysis of mainstream society than Baldwin’s, nor any clearer English than Orwell’s. Talk about an experiencewith sincerity, modesty and tremendous strength. There is also a universal look in two.

P. He talks about the degradation of democratic counterbalances in the film. Is fascism really on the decline?

R. Clearly. Now we have fewer counter-power tools. We see it in EE.UU.: The Trump administration is attacking institutions. It is something rarely seen in a country that presents itself as the father of democracy, which was founded on the idea of ​​freedom, like the French Revolution. However, this promise contained a contradiction: neither natives nor blacks were included. This tradition was born and continues to this day.

P. What has really changed?

R. Reaction and Defense Abilities. Many people turned around in disbelief during big discussions. He doesn’t vote. If you resort to personal happiness, to “yeah”. The world has become more selfish.

»Likewise, you have an extreme fragmentation of your identity. Uniting all the elders in a common fight is very complicatedespecially in a world saturated with images fake newsno tangible stimuli.

P. Usted is from Haiti. Do you think your background has influenced your vocation to political cinema?

R. No choices are possible. When you come from a country like Haiti, when you are black in a European or American context, you accept a place that assigns or defines you. I’m learning to defend myself. Included inside the izquierda.

P. Is Haiti still desangrando in chaos?

R. Haiti is the result of its history. It was the first black republic in the world in 1804. It served the Napoleonic, British and Spanish armies. Sin Haiti did not have independence in Latin America: arms and finances including Bolivar. That is why Haiti is respected in Latin America and silenced in Europe and the EU.

»Adamas, Haiti must pay the debt to France – the equivalent of 100,000 million euros in real cases – for more than one month to compensate the ancient exclaves. When the state pays a lot, there is no money for schools or hospitals.