I spent quite a bit of time in Haiti when I was a child in the late sixties until the last time I went down there when I was in my early 20's, just after Baby Doc left the country. The memories are a combination of the most magical place on earth and the most tragic. I think many people who had contact with Haiti would say the same. The Agronomist is the story of a true Haitian hero and the ultimate price he paid for his passion to inform and enlighten the forgotten masses of people by running the only Creole radio station on the island. The tragedy is so many other well intention Haitians have paid the same price from a series of brutal dictators, who like usual have been supported and backed by other countries like the US and France (where you can see photos of Baby Doc on the ski slopes, while Jean-Bertrand Aristide got dropped in the middle of the Congo by our Compassionate Conservative idiots) The truth of the movie lies in fact then whenever there is a glimpse of hope some external events end up crushing it again and again. The film reminded me of my departed father, who had the guts to bring his family down to a magical place where its beauty is rivaled by its poverty. As a child I played in the streets with all the other children and blew any change I had on soda and chewing gum we would all share. You don't get that experience at Disneyland, thanks dad.
Review of The Agronomist
