Impensabilità, infilmabilità? La rivoluzione haitiana sullo schermo

The article explores Michel-Rolph Trouillot’s notion of the historic “unthinkability” of the Haitian Revolution, as set out in Silencing the Past (1995), and asks whether a parallel concept of contemporary “unfilmability” can be developed to address the relative absence of cinematic representations of this world historical event. Central to the study are several key films – notably The Black Consul by Sergei Eisenstein – which, although planned, never went into production. In addition, however, the article addresses several other films – Negulesco’s Lydia Bailey (1947). Pontecorvo’s Burn (1969), Niang’s Toussaint Louverture (2012), Rock’s Top Five (2014) – that have been released and questions the extent to which they contribute cinematically to the elaboration of “new narratives” that encourage re-engagement with Haiti’s revolutionary past.