About the Film

It starts with Los Angeles-based sculptor Pascal Giacomini participating in the 2nd Ghetto Biennale of Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, where—working in the same conditions as local and visiting artists—he creates three large-scale sculptures from scavenged materials. As he works, he documents the process.

Out of Chaos is a film about art made by an artist. Interwoven with photography, local music, and lots of art, it delves into Haitian history through the paintings of the island’s celebrated artists. Viewers are guided through life in the Grand Rue ghetto, its incredible art, and art’s dominant place in Haitian culture.

The audience also gets to witness a substantial Vodou ceremony, significant to Haiti’s revolutionary past, and recreated annually in dazzling color, pomp, and circumstance.

In the film, Pascal elicits observations and wisdom from a world-renowned expert on Vodou, Donald J. Cosentino, as wells as from Haitian author and McArthur Fellow Edwidge Danticat, who supplies a glimpse into one of the reasons behind the world’s ongoing fascination with Haiti. “We’re considered the nomads in our part of the world. We’re not necessarily wanted, but our art is wanted,” she says.

The film’s finale projects the exuberance of Haiti’s artistic preeminence through the Cap Haitian annual carnival, which Pascal was fortunate enough to attend before flying back home to California, where Haiti remains in his heart.

As the credits roll, a series of post-Grand Rue sculptures made in the artist’s studio in Los Angeles illustrates the impact of the experience on Pascal’s creative process. Titled Marie-Antoinette and her Flock, these works are his way of incorporating the legacy of the French and Haitian revolutions into his work, allowing the beheaded queen a rebirth from a post-colonial slum.

Universities and cultural institutions interested in buying/screening Out of Chaos can purchase it by clicking above.

Members of the general public may watch the film or view the trailer here.

Screening History of Out of Chaos

Film Festivals—Official Selections

2019

• Pan African Film Festival

• African Diaspora Film Festival—Chicago

• African Diaspora Film Festival—Paris

• New Orleans French Film Festival

• San Francisco Black Film Festival

• Universe Multicultural Film Festival

2020

• Cinema World Fest Film Festival

• Out of the Can Film Festival

• Amsterdam World International Film Festival (Winner—Best Director)

• Sweden Film Awards Film Festival

• New York Movie Awards Film Festival (Finalist)

• Lift-Off Paris Film Festival

• Haiti International Film Festival (Winner—Best Film)

• Docs Without Borders Film Festival (Winner)

• Cinema World Fest Film Festival (Winner)

• International Independent Film Awards Film Festival (Winner)

• New Cinema Lisbon Film Festival

2021

• The Impact Docs Awards Film Festival

• ARFF Amsterdam International Awards

• Montreal Independent Film Festival

• International Black and Diversity Film Festival

• London World Film Festival (Golden Selection)

• Los Angeles Cinematography Awards

• Charlotte Black Film Festival

• SoCal Film Awards Film Festival

• Paris Film Festival

• The Impact Docs Awards Film Festival (Winner)

• Toronto Independent Film Awards Film Festival

• Hollywood Screenings Film Festival

• Hollywood North Film Awards (Best Music Score)

• The IFAP Awards

Cultural/Educational Screenings

• Galerie Lakaye, Los Angeles, CA (2018)

• Cal State Northridge (CSUN), Northridge, CA (2018)

• The Loft at Liz’s (gallery), Los Angeles, CA (2018)

• William Grant Still Art Center, Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department, Los Angeles, CA (2018)

• Le Centre d’Art, Port-au-Prince, Haiti (2018)

• Haitian Studies Association (HAS) Annual Conference, Port-au-Prince, Haiti (2018)

• Pan African Film Festival, Los Angeles, CA (February 2019)

• New Orleans French Film Festival, New Orleans, LA (February 2019)

• Institut Français, Port-au-Prince, Haiti (upcoming in February, 2019)

• Kiskeya University, Port-au-Prince, Haiti (upcoming in May, 2019)