Battered by hurricanes, embroiled in political turmoil, overrun by armed gangs, and largely ignored by the international community, Haiti is trying, yet again, to embrace democracy. As our hemisphere’s poorest country attempts to organize for presidential elections in November, some hardened veterans of its endless cycle of uprisings and downfalls are trading guns for voter registration cards, warily giving the election process their support, while followers of exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide take to the streets in protest.
Through the unfettered access provided by Haitian-based journalists to political strongmen, gangsters turned presidential hopefuls, and ordinary citizens, WIDE ANGLE reveals life on Haiti’s streets and among its power-brokers as the country endeavors to fashion a true representative government out of a volatile failed state.
Unfinished Country premieres Tuesday, September 6 at 9 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings).
WIDE ANGLE anchor Bill Moyers’s post-film interview will explore nation-building in Haiti with James Dobbins, director of the RAND International Security and Defense Policy Center and United States special envoy to Haiti during the Clinton administration.
Unfinished Country writer Jane Regan was the Haiti correspondent for Reuters TV and has been a freelance correspondent for The Miami Herald, Christian Science Monitor, Boston Globe, and other news publications. Regan and producer Daniel Morel received the North American Congress’s Samuel Chavkin Prize for Integrity in Latin American Journalism. Morel is one of Haiti’s leading photojournalists and the recipient of numerous awards, including the Associated Press Award for Excellence and the Overseas Press Club of America’s Citation for Excellence. Director Whitney Dow co-produced P.O.V.’s 2003 Two Towns of Jasper, which was awarded a duPont-Columbia Award and a Peabody Award.
For additional information and photography, visit http://www.thirteen.org/pressroom/release.php?get=1331 or www.pbs.org/pressroom.
WIDE ANGLE is a production of Thirteen/WNET New York for PBS. Stephen Segaller is executive producer. Pamela Hogan is series producer. Andy Halper is senior producer. Unfinished Country is a production of Two-Tone Productions for Thirteen/WNET and the Independent Television Service (ITVS). Executive Producer for ITVS is Sally Jo Fifer.Thirteen/WNET New York Deirdre Branley, 212-560-3130 branley@thirteen.org or Gloria Park, 212-560-2063 parkg@thirteen.org or For Thirteen/WNET New York: Ellen Levene, 212-255-7997 ellenl2@nyc.rr.com