MovieLakay.com was in Montreal, Canada last weekend to attend the 5th Edition of the Montreal International Haitian Film Festival (MIHFF).

The Fabienne Colas Foundation, which created the Montreal and Quebec City International Haitian Film Festival and the Quebec Film Festival in Haiti, inaugurated the Montreal International Black Film Festival, which ran from September 23 to 27, 2009.

Fabienne Colas, founder and president of the festival, showcased a series of rare international films as well as spotlights on a few familiar names. The fest kicked off with a tribute to famed Haitian-Québécois author, critic and filmmaker Dany Laferrière then continued with two shorts, Anbafey, from Guadaloupe, and L’Autruche, from Anne-Marie Dupras.

Also in town was Heroes star Jimmy Jean-Louis, who appeared in two of the festival’s picks: Life Outside of Pearl, a drama about a lower-middle-class Haitian family assimilating into the great melting pot that is the United States, and Soul Sisters, a story of friendship between an African-American woman and a Nigerian illegal immigrant. The festival also screened The Other Side of the Water, about Haitian youths adapting voodoo-based walking music in the streets of Brooklyn.

The Montreal International Haitian Film Festival’s (MIHFF) mission is

to help people with Haitian backgrounds reconnect with their culture and allow non-Haitians to discover young, dynamic cinema; also, to give people the opportunity to understand that the reality of the Haitian people is a lot more complex, diversified and rich than what is shown in the news.

Congratulations Mrs. Fabienne! Stay tuned for video interview with Fabienne Colas, Jimmy Jean-Louis and others. For more info, go to www.festivalfilmhaitien.com