UTSA group hosts Nov. 1 screening of film on Haiti human rights abuse

By Adi Pavlovic
Student Writer, College of Liberal and Fine Arts

(Oct. 31, 2005)--The Progressive Student Organization, a UTSA student organization, and the Haiti Action Committee will host the screening of Kevin Pina's new documentary, "Haiti: The Untold Story," at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Nov.1 in Main Building Room 0.106 at the 1604 Campus. The screening is free and open to the public.

The film chronicles human rights abuses by the Haitian police and the July 6, 2005, massacre by United Nations forces of civilians in the Port-au-Prince slum of Cite Soleil. The documentary has been described as "53 minutes of human rights hell in Haiti."

Kevin Pina, an independent journalist and filmmaker, is associate editor of The Black Commentator and Haiti special correspondent for Flashpoints. He is founder of Haiti Information Project (HIP) and currently resides in Haiti.

Pina's film work includes "El Salvador: In the Name of Democracy" (1985), "Berkeley in the Sixties" (1990), "Amazonia: Voices from the Rainforest" (1990) and "Haiti: Harvest of Hope" (1997).

HIP is a nonprofit alternative news service providing coverage and analysis of breaking developments in Haiti. The organization has shown the Haiti documentary across the United States and Canada with the goal of sparking debate and interest in the Haitian crisis that is stirring.

Since the ouster of Haitian President Jean-Bertand Aristide, thousands of followers of Lavalas Family political party, which promotes democratic reform, have been killed or exiled by the United States-installed government of Gerard Latortue. U.N. services have occupied the country, relieving United States, French and Canadian forces in order to stabilize the situation.

For more information, contact Nancy Ayon at (210) 843-6726.