The moment of the abduction of two Dominicans who were part of a team recording a film in Haiti and a Haitian citizen who served as a translator, was told by the manager of the company Muska Films, responsible for the project.
Gilbert Mirambeau Jr. told the country’s Ayibopost newspaper that the incident occurred last Saturday when the three members of the team were abducted near 5th Avenue when they were returning from a shooting in Jacmel.
There are the Haitians Albert Augusma dit Tinèg and the Dominicans, Maico Enrique Campusano Féliz and Antonio Gener Campusano Féliz.
Malatchong is a production of Muska Films. Before Malatchong, this group presented the film Kafou to the Haitian public.
While the media reports on the formation of an anti-kidnapping “team” by the Dominican government to come and remove the victims, director Gilbert Mirambeau Jr. tells AyiboPost about the events.
Here is what the newspaper’s executive said:
Ayibopost: Gilbert Mirambeau Jr., tell us what happened on Saturday, February 20th.
Gilbert Mirambeau Jr .: I saw the kidnapping with my own eyes. There were about fifteen cars in a convoy. We are in Léogâne for a police check. They wanted to check if everything was okay. During the search, I think I saw one or two cars passing by us in a strange way. But he was very tired, I didn’t pay attention to him.
When we arrived at Carrefour, they started to enter and then tried to break the convoy of 17 cars. But on Fifth Avenue, they passed the truck carrying the generator. And there they proceeded to kidnap our Haitian compatriot and the Dominicans.
Have you heard of the hostages?
We talk to them. They’re doing well so far.
Why did you make a convoy of 15 cars at that time?
Why are there kidnappings in the country? Shouldn’t we be able to move freely? We wanted to find the exact time to get home. There are many cases of abduction during day trips. Several people advised us to leave early in the morning or late at night. When they attacked us, it was between 9 am and 9:30 am
The concern is that there is a real problem of insecurity in the country. Although we took all measures to secure my team, we were still under attack.
How did you guarantee your safety?
We had eight cops with us. In front and behind the convoy were two policemen. The others were scattered in the middle of the convoy. The police were dressed in civilian clothes.
It’s not the number of cops that matters. If there were 40 cops, I don’t think that would make a difference. The situation could be more dramatic, it could shoot us. We could all die. We don’t know and we never will. But, in the end, there is a real problem in the country that needs to be solved. And killing people in your neighborhood is not the way to solve this. Young people need hope, work and opportunities. It is also necessary to stop corruption and impunity in the country.
Do you think the kidnapping could have come from your guards?
No, never. They are trustworthy people. Our collaboration began with the filming of Kafou in 2015.
The concern is that there is a real problem of insecurity in the country. Although we took all possible measures to secure my team, we were still under attack.
For the filming of Malatchong, I did two sessions. The first session was in 2019. We are currently filming the other session. Throughout the filming, these police officers were with us. There are always at least eight cops on set.
Do you think that if the police retaliated, it could have a more tragic drama than the kidnapping of the three members of the team?
I had never seen such rifles in the whole country. Even the officers of the General Security Unit of the National Palace (USGPN) do not carry such weapons. It wasn’t a small thing. When these people attacked us, we froze. It all happened in seconds. There were four armed men in a state service registered by Hilux Pick-up, the tinted window.
How long have you been working with junior Albert Augusma and Dominican citizens?
Since 2019. We, the Dominicans, are technicians in electro (electric) machino (car). They are enlightenment. They work with the director of photography. However, it was difficult for us to communicate with them because they spoke neither English nor French. I needed a translator and an interpreter. And a friend recommended Ti Nèg to me.
How does the rest of the team deal with this drama?
We are all shocked. We have citizens from different countries working with us. It is perhaps the first time that such an experience takes place in Haitian cinema, where we find in the same collaboration French, Dominican, Colombian and Belgian people.
Haitians are very shocked. But they bravely face the drama because they have become resistant to the waves of abductions. We are not as affected as other communities that are not necessarily familiar with the abduction phenomenon. They took two Dominicans, but in reality there are four brothers.
How do you see the future of filming?
We are morally weak. It would not be normal to set up a field tomorrow morning when three members of the team are still in a hole. I measure all possibilities to consider the continuation of the project.
At the same time, we are negotiating for the release of the people. If they are released tomorrow morning, we can take a break for rebalancing. We work with all team members to see if they can continue. I can’t say we’ll cancel the shot, and I can’t say we’ll resume it the next morning. In due course, we will decide whether filming should continue.
Will this drama take you further in your activism?
I never gave up, I’m in a photo shoot now, I can’t go out on the street, go on the radio. But once the filming is over, I will redouble my efforts to continue the battle. We need to build a new political class. It will take some time.
I want to get more involved in politics and serve my country. We need new faces. People at the forefront are now trying to renew themselves in the system. It’s been about twenty years since they played the music chair. We cannot tolerate these situations.
In the last five to ten years, there were not so many weapons in the country. It’s bad. If nothing is done, we will be like Honduras, El Salvador, Somalia, Yemen, etc. We need to do something. Next Sunday I’ll be on the street to prove it.