In Kite Zo A, Kaveh Nabatian invites the viewer to enjoy a poetic portrait of Haitian people in all their beauty and glory. This film demands us to watch a country that refuses to be defined through the colonial lens that often sensationalizes and weaponizes the western understanding of “poverty”.

Set to poetry by Wood-Jerry Gabriel, Kite Zo A offers stunning choreographed visuals that reclaim well worn visceral spaces, in tandem with triumphant interviews, and heartfelt documentation of everyday life. This film works against common trauma porn narratives, highlighting the often overlooked fortitude of the Haitian people who once fought colonial powers to create the first black republic. Nabatian makes his point gently but firmly; the Haitian people will continue to rise in the face of geopolitics and by maintaining allegiance to their spirituality and Vodou rituals, they will weather any storm, rising above adversity, gracefully.