FILM SYNOPSIS:

THE MAN ON THE SHORE examines the violence and instability of Haiti's darkest days. In the early 1960s, the corrupt François "baby Doc" Duvalier rose to power, and his private army, the Tontons macoutes, enforced his commands with an iron fist.

Sarah (Jennifer Zubar) is an eight-year old woman whose father becomes one of Janvier's enemies; a despote local official who has long responded with torture and violence to those who oppose his will.

Now that Duvalier is in power, Janvier can reign over his territory. Sarah's parents flee the country leaving the children in the care of her grandmother, a brave woman who refuses to bow to Janvier's will.

The film received the first Caribbean film nomination for the Golden Palm Award at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival.

DIRECTOR’S BIOGRAPHY:

Born in Haiti, raised in Zaire (Congo) and France, he additionally is well-suited for the international following he has earned. He remains one of few filmmakers that successfully produce documentaries and feature films. No doubt his early travels throughout the world have informed his particular aesthetic as a filmmaker. Educated in Haiti, Zaire (Congo), France, and Germany, Peck initially studied engineering and economics at Berlin University. He worked as a journalist and photographer from 1980 to 1985. In 1988 he received his film degree from the Berlin Academy of Film and Television. Since graduation, Peck has developed short experimental works, socio-political documentaries, and features based on fact as well as fiction. His feature L'Homme sur les quais (1993) (The Man by the Shore) was the first Haitian film to be released in theatres in the United States; this feature was also selected for competition at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival. A true internationalist, Peck divides his time between Europe and the United States and for a brief time in the 1990s he served as Haiti's Minister of Culture. For his international vision, historical and political insights, along with his potent artistic vision, he has been richly rewarded. In 1994 he was awarded the Nestor Almendros Prize by the Human Rights Watch in New York; and in 2001 he received the organization's Lifetime Achievement Award. (MUBI)