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Ghosts of Cité Soleil (15)

• Consumer Advice: Contains strong language and references to violence and death
• Run time: 1 hour 28 mins

• Genre: Documentary
• Release date: 20th July 2007

• Starring: Winson '2pac' Jean, Wyclef Jean, James 'Bily' Petite Frere
• Directed by: Asger Leth, Milos Loncarevic

• Official Website: www.ghostsofcitesoleil.com
• Distributor: Revolver Entertainment

Plot Synopsis

The rebels are approaching the capital from the north. They are taking one city at the time. They will arrive soon. They are coming to Port-au-Prince to get rid of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. People will be killed. In Haiti there is always a score to be settled.

In Cité Soleil two brothers are leaders of their community. They are Chimères, paid and ordered by the government to take care of things. The Opposition calls them armed thugs, killers and kidnappers.

The Chimerès are not outfitted with any official uniform - except the guns that are being unloaded from government pick-up trucks in the dark of the night. Memories from Haiti's past are ever present.

Bily and 2pac were not raised to carry guns. They are in their early twenties. Haitian life is hard and nowhere is misery more present than in Cité Soleil, hell on earth with its open sewers and hard sun on tinfoil-houses. No food here. No water here. No work here. Nothing but dust. It is the end of the road.

The Chimerès of Cité Soleil are the most trusted - and the most feared.

President Aristide is up against the wall. The political opposition has taken to the streets and the noise is getting louder. The demonstrations are turning violent.

Teargas grenades split the crowds. Rocks are thrown, guns are fired and people are dying. The police and the Chimerès are trying to control the situation, independently or working together, intimidating the people, escalation the only result.

Bily believes he is helping his community. He has a political mind, is a true believer in Aristide and wants to fight for him.

2pac has a dream. He is a musician, a rapper. His lyrics are his explanation, his hope of redemption. 2pac wants out. His music is the only way and he secretly records rap songs denouncing Aristide during the day whilst guarding Aristide's house during the night. In weeks or days, 2pac will face his destiny. There are choices to be made. Choices that will spell the difference between life and death.

Lele is a french relief worker. Devoted to the sick and helpless of the Cité Soleil, she needs to be friends with the leaders of the Chimerès. She falls in love with 2pac and puts her life on the line while jealousy, distrust and rivalry threaten to rip the brothers apart.

The five communities of Cité Soleil all have their own Chimerès gang and their own leader.

They are constantly watching each other, sometimes ordered to kill their own. Questions of loyalty to the President are answered with the gun.

The two brothers are desperate and at the end of the road, frantically trying to stay alive against all odds. There are gunshots outside. Not a lot, but just enough to keep you constantly awake.