Haiti-Culture: The DNL Honors Filmmaker Arnold Antonin for His Film: « René Depestre : On ne rate pas une vie éternelle »

As part of the year-long celebration of René Depestre's centenary, the National Book Directorate (DNL) organized, this Friday, the screening of the documentary film « René Depestre : On ne rate pas une vie éternelle », tracing the exceptional journey of the poet, novelist, and major figure of Haitian literature.

« Filmmaker Arnold Antonin delivers a work praised for the quality of its images, the subtlety of its narration, and the depth of its perspective on the poet's life, » declared the centenary year coordinator, poet Marc Exavier, in his introductory remarks.

Guests then rediscovered Depestre through more than an hour, forty minutes, and thirty-nine seconds of testimonies, archives, and fragments of memory. After the screening, master of ceremonies Paul Villefranche shared a poignant message from René Depestre, written in his own hand. In it, the poet expressed his gratitude to the director, recognizing in him « a brother capable of restoring on screen the horizons of an entire life ». He highlighted the elegance with which the film explores his inner chaos, his decisive encounters, his political struggles, as well as his reflection on « solar eroticism », a notion he carefully distinguishes from libertinism.

For his part, the Director General of the DNL, Mr. Ernst Saint-Louis, praising Arnold Antonin's exceptional contribution to the transmission of literary and artistic heritage, recalled the crucial importance of the work of this filmmaker, author of over 81 documentaries, true treasures of national memory. On behalf of the Ministry of Culture and Communication, he congratulated « the professor » for his essential role in the country's cultural revitalization, stating that the DNL now positions itself as « a crossroads of resistance for public reading but also for cinema ».

During the awards ceremony, Arnold Antonin shared personal memories of his encounters with Depestre: first conversations, long walks, shared reflections. He evoked an entire generation of writers: Jacques-Stéphen Alexis, Gérald Bloncourt, René Depestre, marked by political commitment, repression, exile, but also by exceptional creativity. The filmmaker recalled that several of these figures paid with their lives for their convictions.

« If there is a universal Haitian, I believe it is René Depestre, » he affirmed, emphasizing the global reach of his thought and the relevance of his words across decades.

Broadcast by TNH, this tribute evening not only celebrated René Depestre's intellectual and artistic depth but also highlighted an essential aspect of the Haitian soul: its capacity to create, resist, bear witness, and transmit.

Among the personalities present were: poet Christophe Philippe Charles, the president of the Society of History and Geography, Pierre Buteau, the President of the Technical Commission for the Restructuring of State Media, Ms. Marie Sandra Duvivier, the Director General of the National Library of Haiti, Dangelo Enrico Néard, and the Director of the DCAL at the Ministry of Culture, Ms. Stéphanie Saint-Louis, to name but a few.