1948 Port au Prince, Haiti

Lydie Gerdes
1934
Port au Prince Haiti
Interviewed on February 20, 2021
by Madelyn Blaney

That was a long time ago, you know, and my memory is not as good as it used to be these days. My first film- this would have been in Haiti. I was probably in my teens, thirteen or fourteen. It’s coming a bit to me now. I think it was called Je Vous Le Rendra, it was a French film. It’s about a beggar, you know? Right now the idea is coming to me. I forgot what happened at the end. Just the thing came into my mind now. Somebody asking for money or something. I don’t see how it’s put together though. It was in a theater, and because when I was young I didn’t go to the movies a lot- I can count on my fingers the amount of times I’ve been to the movies. I used to go to a driveway also, but I don’t even remember what film I saw.

When I was young there used to be two [theaters] -Rex and Paramount. One in Champ de Mars. The three theaters that I know in Haiti. Near the coast was the drive in. My brothers used to go more to the movies than I did, they had more freedom than I did. Remember also, that when you go to the movies you have to pay for the movie. So if they managed to find free tickets or if someone let them in, they could go. And, you know, before you go in to the movie, they have to make sure it was a proper film for a young person to go to. I remember also, there was one movie, when I was a Girl Scout, that we were fundraising and selling tickets for.

I never went to the theater with friends. Just my mother and myself. I didn’t go out with friends when I was raised in Haiti. Saturday was with the Girl scouts and Sunday was with the youth in church. There was no such thing as ‘visiting friends’ and doing things with friends. I liked going to the movies though. That was something special, especially with my mother so we could talk about it after and discuss things. I was not frustrated not going to the movies- I could see the other people when we went there, and that was okay with me. And that made me happy.

I remember that there was the Bicentennial of Port au Prince— they had the most beautiful showing there: music, shows, restaurants, fountains. And all of that was destroyed. We used to walk down there and have a good time; see the Theatre de verdure, the music, dancing. All of that is gone. Port au Prince is not even the same as what it used to be. During that time, tourism was at a high. After Duvalier came, all of that was gone.