When your homeland slides into chaos do you stay or do you flee? That is the dilemma facing the title character in Gessica Généus' Creole-language debut. Freda (Nehemie Bastien) lives with her family in a popular neighborhood in Port-au-Prince. Individually and collectively, they reflect the challenges of modern Haiti: her brother is a deadbeat, her sister hunts for a sugar daddy and their pragmatic mother dispenses support and tough love. In the face of escalating violence, Freda's boyfriend wants to emigrate to a safer place.

Bastien's spirited performance makes Freda shine with her determination to challenge the daily realities of a country at the mercy of corrupt politicians, patriarchal oppression, gangs and a colonialist legacy that seeks to erase language, culture and identity. D: Gessica Généus, Haiti, subtitled, 2021

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