Haiti in Focus Podcast

We had a chance to chat with Justin Brandon from the movie "Road to Fondwa" and talk about the impact of the film in a pre- and post quzke Haiti.

The Road to Fondwa tells the powerful story of a rural Haitian community poised to change the future of Haiti one University student at a time.

When Haiti is not forgotten or ignored, it is seen through a tinted lens. The small, impoverished nation shares an island with the Dominican Republic just 500 miles from the shores of Miami. It is Haiti’s proximity that brings it into our national conscience in short, periodic bursts. When a dictator is overthrown, a group of ‘boat people’ is lost at sea, or a coup is staged, it gets our attention. Reporters rush to the scene, horrific tales are told, and we feel sympathy… or is it pity? And then, as quickly as the news cycle churns, the moment disappears.

From the very beginning of the film, it is clear that The Road to Fondwa does not follow this pattern. The first interview introduces Sandelwi, a farmer and a mystic, who is riding on top of a bus that is speeding around the treacherous curves of the mountainous road to Port-au-Prince, mindless of the precipitous drop to the valley below. ‘When you’re in Haiti, I consider you Haitian,’ he says. ‘It’s up to us, we have to put our heads together to do development.’

From that point on, there is no turning back. It becomes evident that The Road to Fondwa is not a one-way street, but rather a conduit between two very different, yet intricately connected nations.

Justin Brandon is a filmmaker/actor living in Los Angeles, CA. Originally from South Bend, IN he graduated cum laude from the College of Arts and Letters at the University of Notre Dame in 2004.  After spending several months as a public relations volunteer at “La Fundación Comunitaria de Puerto Rico,” Justin returned to the US to Associate Produce the 2005 season of Irish Weekly, a show which followed the Fighting Irish football team at The University of Notre Dame. He made his first short film in 2006, a documentary called The Volta Youth Project.  The film has been used to acquire funding and supplies for education projects in the Volta Region of Ghana.

Justin has also worked at Google and BetterWorld.com.  He wishes he could surf better and hopes to meet Jack Johnson someday.

**Be sure to check out Justin’s account of “The Making of The Road to Fondwa”

Contact: justin [at] fondwa.org

You can watch the Road to Fondwa here.  Be sure to visit the Road the Fondwa website.

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