Berlinale 2013: Panel discussion on Raoul Peck’s political documentary “Assistance Mortelle”

An extract from the panel discussion on February 9, 2013.

This year’s series of talks at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele opened with Raoul Peck’s political documentary Assistance Mortelle (Fatal Assistance).

Three years after the terrible earthquake hit Haiti, Peck reveals the disillusioning results of the work undertaken by numerous NGOs whose actions are often determined by marketing strategies. Peck was born in Port-au-Prince and was Haiti’s Minister of Culture between 1996 and 1997. His film gives voice to those directly involved as well as political decision-makers. Following the screening, Peck tried and reconstruct the failure of the international community in a discussion with two of the main players in the reconstruction effort: politician Priscilla Phelps and Haitian engineer Joiseus Nader – both of whom feature in Assistance Mortelle.

The discussion was moderated by Christiane Grefe, editor of the weekly newspaper Die Zeit.