Haiti Benefit Concert at FIAF on March 15 at 8pm

Yannick Noah is one of France’s most beloved celebrities, a tennis champion turned pop star. After winning 39 titles, including the 1983 French Open, he launched a highly successful singing career with many upbeat hits such as “Saga Africa” (1991) and ”Donne-moi une vie” (2006). The reigning queen of Haitian song, Emeline Michel combines traditional styles, such as compas, twoubadou and rara, with inspirational lyrics. Her latest release, Queen of Hearts (2007), has earned rave reviews. BélO, aka Jean Bélony Murat, is a 30-year old sensation from Haiti whose music is a fascinating mix of reggae, voodoo and soul beats. His latest album, Reference, was released in 2008. A man of many musical talents and influences, Mino Cinelu has played and recorded with such musical icons as Miles Davis and Sting. His latest album, La Californie, was released in 2007 and was nominated for best movie soundtrack at the Cannes Film Festival.

These marquee performers have generously agreed to donate their time and talent to raise funds for Jacmel’s Ciné Institute and the French Heritage Language Program. The town of Jacmel, which has been tentatively accepted as a World Heritage site and has an estimated population of 40,000, was completely devastated by the January earthquake. FIAF worked closely with David Belle, co-founder of the Ciné Institute in Jacmel, for its World Nomads 2009 series dedicated to Haiti, and when he and his team sent an urgent appeal for help, FIAF did not hesitate. By focusing its efforts on the Ciné Institute, which provides the area’s youth with film education and entertainment, technical training, and media related employment opportunities, FIAF hopes to make a real difference and help the Institute resume its educational and training mission.

As the United States welcomes thousands of Haitian children fleeing the devastation in their country, schools with French programs are facing increasing enrollment demands from their parents concerned about continuing their children’s education in French. The highly successful French Heritage Language Program is ideally suited for this critical schooling task. This five-year-old program, which is run by the non-profit French American Cultural Exchange foundation (FACE), offers free, for-credit French classes that build on the cultural heritage of students and help them achieve academic success. Over 500 students have already benefited from this program within the public school system, or at community-based centers in New York. A portion of the evening’s donations will be used to ramp up the program in order to meet the large influx of new students from Haiti, and to launch French Heritage classes in Miami, where many Haitian earthquake victims have sought refuge. These new classes will start on February 27th at the Little Haiti Cultural Center, in the presence of the Ambassador of France Pierre Vimont and the city’s mayor, Tomas P. Regalado.

March is the international month of la Francophonie, celebrated by over 200 million French-speakers in 68 countries across the world. Solidarity is a key principle of la Francophonie, and francophone countries have been quick to mobilize for Haiti following the January earthquake. France, for its part, announced a massive aid package totaling almost half a billion dollars (326 million euros).