<I>Bitter Cane </I>
date: label: Date
content: 1983
name: label: Directed by
content: Jacques Arcelin, Haitian
label: Subject of
content: François Duvalier, Haitian, 1907 - 1971
label: Subject of
content: Jean-Claude Duvalier, Haitian, 1951 - 2014
label: Owned by
content: D.C. Public Library, American, founded 1896
notes: label: Caption
content: This film was a part of the Washington D.C. Public Library's circulating 16mm film collection housed at the Martin Luther King Jr. Central Library. The collection is particularly noted for the wide variety of African American and African diaspora content.
label: Description
content: A documentary film with the title Bitter Cane (Canne amère). It consists of two reels of color 16mm polyester film with optical sound.
label: Description
content: The film opens with a discussion of Haiti's colonial history and the impact of the Haitian Revolution on the country's contemporary economic and political climate. It then goes on to describe the semi-feudalism between Haitian farmers and landowners, the nineteen-year US Marine occupation that resulted in guerilla warfare led by Charlemagne Péralte and the Cacos warriors, as well as subsequent US economic and political interventions.
label: Description
content: Several farm and factory workers in Haiti are interviewed for the documentary. Two of the women interviewed report that they earn approximately $1 or $2 per day, working for a major American textile company with operations in Haiti, while American workers for the same company who are interviewed report that they earn approximately $5 per hour and have been furloughed due to the cheaper wages paid in other countries.
label: Description
content: In the final scenes, asylum seekers detained in New York and Virginia are interviewed. Some report that they are fleeing persecution from the Macoute.
place: label: Place used
content: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
label: Place filmed
content: Haiti, Caribbean, Latin America, North and Central America
label: Place filmed
content: New York, United States, North and Central America
label: Place filmed
content: Virginia, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: African diaspora
label: Topic
content: Agriculture
label: Topic
content: Colonialism
label: Topic
content: Commerce
label: Topic
content: Documentary films
label: Topic
content: Film
label: Topic
content: French colonialism
label: Topic
content: International affairs
label: Topic
content: Labor
label: Topic
content: Poverty
label: Topic
content: Sugarcane
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Collection title
content: DC Public Library Film Collection
label: Classification
content: Time-based Media - Moving Images
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Transferred from the DC Public Library
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2017.55.13.1ab
objectType: label: Type
content: sound films
label: Type
content: color films (visual works)
label: Type
content: 16mm (photographic film size)
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Restrictions likely apply. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: polyester film
label: Dimensions
content: Duration (Reel 1): 35 Minutes
label: Dimensions
content: Length (Film): 1250 Feet
label: Dimensions
content: Duration (Reel 2): 32 Minutes
label: Dimensions
content: Length (Film): 1150 Feet