CineCulture will present “Serenade for Haiti” (2016) at 5:30 p.m. Friday, March 16, in the Peters Education Center Auditorium at the Student Recreation Center (5010 N. Woodrow Ave.). The post-screening discussion will be led by producer Christy McGill.
Directed by Owsley Brown, “Serenade for Haiti” is a documentary-style film telling the story of the Sainte Trinité Music School, a small classical music school in the heart of troubled Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
The documentary was filmed over a seven-year period, following a terrible earthquake that destroyed the school in 2010. The film depicts the devastated faculty and students adapting to the difficult circumstances that result from the earthquake as they are seen rehearsing in the rubble of their school and continuing the rich musical heritage that still lives in Haiti.
This modest school thrives in the shadows of decades of political turmoil and natural disasters. Its story transcends poverty and political violence, showing how music can transform the lives of the children and faculty of the school to discover the strength of their will and imagination.
The audience gets a unique look at a misunderstood country in its setting in the diverse Haitian rural areas of its capital city, Port-au-Prince, and also features a soundtrack of widely unknown composers from the region.
“Serenade for Haiti” is an hour and 18 minutes long, in Haitian Creole, French and English with English subtitles. (trailer).
This presentation is sponsored by the Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures, the French Program, L’Alliance Française de Fresno and the Africana Studies Program.
All CineCulture films screened on campus are free and open to the public. Parking is free after 4 p.m. on Fridays. INFO: Dr. Mary Husain at mhusain@csufresno.edu.
The College of Arts and Humanities at Fresno State 
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