Expedition Ayiti

18/03/2021

Here is a short clip from the opening of our new documentary self titled “Expedition Ayiti”. (Note: the film is HD quality. You will need to change the settings to HD in order to view at optimum resolution)

15/03/2021

Expedition Ayiti has been accepted to its first film festival - Venice Shorts in Venice, California. We are very excited about this opportunity and look forward to the rest of Film Festival season.

13/03/2021

We are thrilled to announce our feature length documentary self-titled, "Expedition Ayiti" is finally complete! Boston filmmaker Richard Serrao has been working for the past 3.5 years on a project that weaves the story of Expedition Ayiti in with a group of hikers journeying 50 miles through the vast mountains of Southern Haiti. This film aims to highlight a story about the country that is often hidden - to show the beauty of a place that has been painted with dark colors since gaining it's independence in 1804.

Thank you to our cast: James Declerus, Junior Augustin, Sarah Dornbos, Kate Dornbos, Shalini Kasida, Davidson Buvaldy Joseph, Doug Taylor, Geral Joseph, Hones Declerus, Charles Gerbier, Michelle Johnston, Luke Haworth, and Ben Moore with narration provided by Gavely Gerbier!

More viewing information coming soon...

27/10/2020

Last week "Bending the Arc" made it's debut on Netflix. This documentary is about Dr. Paul Farmer and the group that founded Partner's in Heath (Zanmi Lasante) in Cange, Haiti. When on our Central Plateau Hike Route Expedition Ayiti always takes group to see the Zanmi Lasante Hospital in Cange and Paul Farmer's house right across the street. Very cool story!

Always now, forever independent. Subcribe to Film Daily now: http://filmdaily.co/ A powerful documentary about the extraordinary team of doctors and activist...

18/05/2020

Today is Flag Day in Haiti. The annual holiday celebrates the Congress of Arcahaie in May 1803. It was here that military leaders - representing divided segments of black society in the French Colony of Saint Domingue- united their forces against the French Colonial Army. The union was led by former slave Jean Jacque Dessalines and a free man of color, Alexandre Petion. At this congress Dessalines ripped the white section out of France's red, white, and blue flag. He then had his goddaughter sew the red and blue sections together making Haiti's first red and blue flag. This flag would represent the world's first black republic - a consequence of the only successful slave revolt in History!

12/01/2020

On this day 10 years ago, January 12, 2010 at 4:53 PM , Junior was leading my Dad and I on a walk around Pignon. We were walking across the soccer field that sits on the northern edge of town when the ground started to shake. Pignon sat over 70 miles from Leogane - the epicenter of the shake. Because of the distance the intensity of what we felt was minor. We realized that the shake was an earthquake. This brough about the kind of laughter that comes up when you are in a surreal situation as none of us had been in an "tranbleman dte" before. As we walked back through town everyone was out in the streets talking about what we had all felt. None of us knew the magnitude of what happened. Later in the evening my father and I sat in the home of a friend eating popcorn by candlelight when I received a text message from a buddy back home asking if I was alright. I had no idea what he was talking about. Cell coverage was such that I didn't hear anymore from him the rest of the day. As we were going to bed that evening, Gerald, whom we were staying with, came into my room after hearing reports on the radio that many people were killed in Port Au Prince, the National Palace was destroyed, and many government buildings had fallen. Gerald had lived in Port Au Prince for 13 years as a youngster while he pursued his education. He had family and many close friends in the City. We made plans the next day to go to Port Au Prince to check on Gerald's people and see if there was anything we could do.. I won't go into details about the experience we had over the next two weeks. But the earthquake was an event that marked the beginning of a deep friendship between those of us who now work together under the name Expedition Ayiti. Over the past ten years we have literally walked hundreds and hundreds of miles together all over the country showing visitors the beauty of the island, introducing them to the Haitian people, helping them to understand the history of the land as we explore together. We have shared countless meals (together), gotten to know characters from around the world (together), made it through some difficult and scary situations (together) ( including Gerald riding 60 miles on a bicycle in the wrong direction on a bike tour in Southern Indiana) and gotten to know each others' families. The earthquake was one of those moments that is seared into everyone's memory - it means different things to different people. To me the earthquake marked the beginning of a deep friendship with Gerald, Junior, Gavely, Jimmy, Hones , Charles , their families, and the people of Haiti. Haiti is a truly special place. It has been one of the greatest joys of my life.

Written by Austin Taylor

22/03/2019

Still from Expedition Ayiti's upcoming documentary. This shot was taken at Haiti's most famous waterfall- Bassin Bleu - just outside of Jacmel. EA's film will be finished June 1st. It will debut in Frankfort, Michigan on July 7th. If you are interested in setting up a viewing event in your community contact: [email protected]

30/11/2018

Thinking about eating fresh fruit in the Caribbean today. This what you would encounter traveling through Petionville on your way to work this morning! Much of this produce is carried by foot through the mountains south of Port Au Prince to a wholesale market where it is purchased by the market women who sell it in the streets throughout Port Au Prince.
📷

@ Pétionville

24/08/2018

EA is Nashville, Tennessee today at a conference of Catholic Churches involved in Haiti. We have the best looking crew in the building.