{"id":895,"date":"2018-03-03T12:59:21","date_gmt":"2018-03-03T12:59:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/news\/entertainment-2\/jacquil-constant-is-changing-the-image-of-haiti-through-film\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T23:46:37","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T23:46:37","slug":"jacquil-constant-is-changing-the-image-of-haiti-through-film","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/news\/entertainment-2\/jacquil-constant-is-changing-the-image-of-haiti-through-film\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacquil Constant is changing the image of Haiti through film"},"content":{"rendered":"

The filmmaker created the Haiti International Film Festival to showcase the best that his people have to offer.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Constant addresses a crowd during the Pan African Film Festival at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza.<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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****UPDATE- August 14, 2020****<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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By Blake Carter<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Haitians have a similar problem that African Americans have.  Both groups tend to be portrayed poorly in the media.  Whether that be news media or in film and television, the best of these groups are typically not shown. <\/span><\/p>\n

There are many people from both groups who are trying to change the negative narratives.  For Haitians, Jacquil Constant promotes the positive images of Haiti that most people do not see.  He does this by making documentaries about Haiti, and he created the Haiti International Film Festival in Los Angeles two years ago.  <\/span><\/p>\n

“If anyone is going to change the image, I felt like that responsibility was on me,” he said.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Constant’s parents are both from Haiti, and he was born in Brooklyn.  He moved to Los Angeles at a young age, and graduated from Fairfax High School.  His mother surrounded him with Black art and music, and being close to Hollywood, he had access to the film industry.  As a teenager, he knew that he wanted to be a filmmaker.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I saw (the film) ‘Malcolm X’ when I was 15, and I knew that I wanted to do that (become a filmmaker),” he said.  “I wanted to show a person from my community that was doing something positive, who had that transformational change.”<\/span><\/p>\n

While at Fairfax High School, he took a video production class, and a field trip to Paramount Studios made him extremely interested in a career in the film industry.  He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in film production from Cal State University Northridge.  <\/span><\/p>\n

After Constant’s undergraduate years, he worked at VH1 as a production assistant.  He worked on reality shows such as “Flavor of Love” and “New York Goes to Hollywood.”  While he was learning a lot about the entertainment industry, he felt that he could find a more impactful use of his skills.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I got a little burnt out of reality television, so I took my skills and got into documentaries,” he said.  “I wanted to do something with more cultural significance.  I wanted to do something more meaningful.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Constant went back to school to earn a master’s degree in digital video arts, and later on he created the short “Haiti is a Nation of Artists.”  <\/span><\/p>\n

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Many people may be unaware that Haiti has a very rich arts culture.  <\/span><\/p>\n

“I’m changing the negative image, because all of the soundbites that we see on television, we only see that Haiti is in poverty,” Constant said.  “So I wanted to change that paradigm.  I wanted to show that we have a rich culture through the arts.  As a Haitian American, I’ve been around Haitian culture, so I know that there are other sides to it.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The goal of the documentary is not only to show positive images of Haiti, but it’s also to help the struggling artists on the island.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I want people to know more about Haitian art,” Constant said.  “I want the art to be collectible, and I want there to be more Black collectors.  In Haiti, a lot of the people collect the art, but they’re usually European.  Every Haitian or Black person should have a painting at home.”<\/span><\/p>\n