When the Drum Is Beating

The music of Haiti's oldest and best-known band and the memories of its founder and leader, Ulric Pierre-Louis.

Film Signature Image
Series
Independent Lens
Premiere Date
April 12, 2012
Length
60 minutes
Funding Initiative
Series and Special Projects
  • Award laurels-r Created with Sketch.
    2011 Silverdocs-Special Jury Mention
  • Award laurels-r Created with Sketch.
    2011 Traverse City Film Festival-Outstanding Documentary Cinematography & Editing
  • Award laurels-r Created with Sketch.
    2011 Jecheon International Film Festival-Special Jury Award
    • Producer/Director

    Whitney Dow

    Whitney Dow is an award-winning filmmaker whose directing credits include: Two Towns of Jasper, I Sit Where I Want: The Legacy of Brown v Board of Education, Unfinished Country, and When the Drum Is Beating. His work has been screened and broadcast all over the world and received numerous honors including the Peabody, a Columbia DuPont, Gotham, and Beacon… Show more Awards. Dow¹s producing credits include Freedom Summer, Banished, and The Undocumented, all directed by Marco Williams, and Toots, directed by Kristi Jacobson. Show less

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    The Film

    When the Drum Is Beating explores Haiti's complex past and present through the music of the country's oldest and best-known band and the memories of its founder and leader, Ulric Pierre-Louis. As Haiti disintegrates around them, the three generations of musicians who make up Septentrional struggle to persevere and prevent this national treasure from being lost forever.

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