Versión Españo
  • TITLE (ORIGINAL): When the Drum is Beating
    TITLE: "When the Drum is Beating"
    DIRECTOR: Whitney Dow
    COUNTRY: USA
    YEAR: 2011
    RUNNING TIME: 84 min
    FORMAT: HD / Color
    LANGUAGE: English with Spanish and Creole Subtitles
    GENRE: Documentary
    CREDITS
    Producers: Jennifer Latham, Daniel Morel, Jane Regan
    Executive Producer: Marco Williams
    Cinematographer: Ed Marritz
    Editors: Nancy Kennedy, Federico Rosenzvit, Hermal Trivedi
    Principal Cast: Yvenel 'Saure' Etienne, Nikol Levy, Ulrick Pierre-Louis, Michel Tassy
    FILM SYNOPSIS

    “When the Drum Is Beating” follows the great musical joys of Haiti’s Big Band,   Septentrional and its 60 years on the musical scene within the context of Haiti’s political and economic history as well as natural disasters.  Director, Whitney Dow, intended to finish this film before the 2010 earthquake. He wanted to document the band’s transition from its leadership under octogenarian founder “Maestro” Ulrick Pierre Louis to a much younger and more complex new group. The inner conflicts within the 20-piece band are viewed as the longtime vocalist must face the younger musicians’ intricate jazz noodling as he walks off the stage.

    The tough and sometimes untenable political events in Haiti often overshadow the country’s cultural backdrop, but may also shed some light on Septentrional’s infectious blend of Cuban and Dominican 1940’s-style, the typical horns and traditional Haitian Voodoo rhythms throughout the years.
    Featuring a wide selection of live performance footage, “When The Drum is Beating” is a poignant and high-energy story of resilience --- In Haiti, music is a weapon.

     
    DIRECTOR'S BIOGRAPHY
    Whitney Dow is an award winning filmmaker whose directing credits include: "Two Towns of Jasper," "I Sit Where I Want: The Legacy of Brown v Board of Education" and "Unfinished Country." His work has received numerous honors and awards including the Peabody, a Columbia DuPont, Gotham, and Beacon Awards. Dow's producing credits include, "Freedom Summer," " Banished: How Whites Drove Blacks Out of Town in America," and "The Undocumented."