KOMBIT

KOMBIT, HACER ALGO JUNTOS

By Aníbal Ezequiel GARISTO

SALAMANCA CINE - as SALES All rights / DISTR Theatrical, TV, DVD-video, VOD, Airline, World, ARGENTINA / PROD

Documentary - Completed 2015

Kombit, which means "Solidary work" in creole, shows the resistance of the haitian peasants against the importation of rice from the United States.

Festivals
& Awards

Mar Del Plata IFF 2015
Panorama Argentino
Ventana Sur 2015
Video Library
    • Year of production
    • 2015
    • Genres
    • Documentary
    • Countries
    • ARGENTINA
    • Languages
    • SPANISH, ENGLISH, FRENCH, CREOLE
    • Duration
    • 64 mn
    • Director(s)
    • Aníbal Ezequiel GARISTO
    • Writer(s)
    • Carlos GALÁN
    • Producer(s)
    • Carolina M. FERNÁNDEZ (SALAMANCA CINE), Jorge Leandro COLÁS (SALAMANCA CINE), Anibal Ezequiel GARISTO (RUKA), Carlos GALÁN (RUKA)
    • Synopsis
    • Cebé is 32 years old and lives with his family in Divison, a small village situated 120 kilometers from Port-Au-Prince. The houses are made of wood or mud and there are no electricity, running water not Hospitals. His family is the fifth generation living in the same house. They live in contact with nature, the work of the land is part of their identity and they can´t imagine themselves living in another place. They reap the rice in a very primitive way, buckets are used for irrigation, the plow is handmade and the production is transported in donkey or oxs.



      Agriculture is the main activity in the región, they used to produce rice for the rest of Haiti and the Caribbean. But because of the political pressure from USA, the rice form Miami (much cheaper than the haitian) begins to be sold in Haiti.



      The local production now only covers the 20% of the rice consumed in Haiti and thousands of farmers lost their lands. The North-American goal was to destroy the economy forcing the farmers to migrate to the capital looking for jobs, and use them as cheap labor hand.



      The situation of the farmers from Otè–Divison gets worst every day. Cebè is trying to organize them, he feels they can´t wait anymore and they must act if they want to keep their lifestyle.



      He proposes a return to the “Kombit”, concept created for the slaves centuries ago, which means “Solidary work”. A way to work the land together and share the production. He is convinced that Haiti needs investment in agriculture, doctors and engineers, not soldiers and guns. Local production, not economic dependence.