Muska Films Manager – How Two Dominican Abductions Happened in Haiti

The abduction of two Dominican men who were part of a group that recorded a film in Haiti, and a Haitian citizen who worked as a translator, was described by the manager of Masca Films, which was responsible for the project.

Gilbert Mirambo Jr. told the Ibobost newspaper in the country that the incident happened last Saturday when three members of the team were abducted near 5th Avenue and they were returning from a shooting in Jackham.

They are the Haitian Albert Agsma Dit Dinek and the Dominicans, Mico Enrique Composano Felice and Antonio General Cambusano Felice.

Malatzong is a production of Masca Films. Prior to Malatzong, the group presented the Kafu image to the Haitian people.

Filmmaker Gilbert Mirambo Jr. tells Ipoh Post about the events as the media reports about the Dominican government creating an “anti-kidnapping” team to remove the victims.

The administrator told the newspaper here:

Ipoh Post: Gilbert Mirambo Jr. Tell me what happened on Saturday, February 20th.

Gilbert Mirambo Jr.: I saw the abduction with my own eyes. We have about fifteen cars in one vehicle. We are staying in Lyogen for a police check. They wanted to test if everything was OK. During the search I saw one or two cars passing us in strange ways. But he was so tired, I did not notice him.

When we got to Carrefour, they started to enter, and then they tried to break into the 17-car convoy. But they passed the truck that was loading the generator on Fifth Avenue. There they began to kidnap our Haitian comrade and Dominican.

Have you heard from hostages?

We talk to them. They are performing better so far.

Why did you convoy the 15-car at the time?

Why are there kidnappings in the country? Can’t we move freely? We wanted to find the right time to go home. There are many cases of kidnapping on day trips. Many advised us to leave late in the morning or at night. When they attacked us, it was from 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

The concern is that there is a real problem of insecurity in the country. Although I had taken all measures to protect my team, we were still under attack.

How did you guarantee your safety?

There were eight policemen with us. In front and behind the convoy, there were two policemen. The others were scattered in the middle of the convoy. Police were in public attire.

The number of police officers is not important. If there were 40 cops, I don’t think it would make a difference. The situation could be even more dramatic and they could shoot us. We may all die. We don’t know, we will never. But in the end, a real problem in the country must be solved. Killing people near you is not the way to solve it. Young people need hope, jobs and opportunities. It is also necessary to prevent corruption and punishment in the country.

Do you think kidnapping may come from your security guards?

not at all. They are trustworthy people. Our collaboration began in 2015 with the filming of Kafu.

The concern is that there is a real problem of insecurity in the country. Although I had taken all measures to protect my team, we were still under attack.

For the shooting of the movie Malatsang, we did two sessions. The first session was in 2019. We are currently filming the other session. During the entire shoot, the same policemen were with us. There are always at least eight cops in the set.

If the police had retaliated, do you think it would have been a more tragic drama than kidnapping three team members?

I have never seen guns like this across the country. Even officials from the National Guard (USGPN)’s public security division do not carry such weapons. This is no small matter. When these men attacked us, we froze. Everything happened in seconds. They had four Hilux pick-ups registered in a government service, the window was black.

How long have you been working with Albert Agasma Jr. and Dominican citizens?

From 2019. We are Dominicans Electro (E) Engine (Machine) Technicians. They are enlightened. They collaborate collaboratively with the photo director. However, it was difficult for us to communicate with them as we did not speak English or French with them. We need a translator and translator. A friend suggested De Knock to me.

How do other teams handle this play?

We are all in shock. We have people from different countries working with us. This is the first time this kind of experience has taken place in Haitian cinema, where we see French, Dominican, Colombian and Belgian people in the same collaboration.

The Haitians are very shocked. But they bravely face the play because they resist the waves of kidnapping. We are not affected like other communities who are not well aware of the abduction phenomenon. They took two Dominicans, but in reality they were four brothers.

How do you see the future of filmmaking?

We are morally weak. It would not be normal to set up a field tomorrow morning when three members of the team are still in a hole. I measure all possibilities to consider the continuity of the project.

At the same time, we are negotiating to liberate the people. If they are released tomorrow morning, there may be some time left to reorganize. We are working with all team members to see if we can continue. I can’t say we’re going to stop filming and I can’t say we’ll start it again the next morning. At the right time, we will decide whether to continue shooting.

Will this play motivate you further in your process?

I’ve never given up, I’m in a photo shoot now, I can’t go out on the street, I can’t go on the radio. But once the shooting is over, I will redouble my efforts to continue the war. We need to create a new political class. This will take time.

I want to be more involved in politics and serve my country. We need new faces. Those at the front are now trying to update themselves. They are in their twenties since they played the musical chair. We cannot tolerate these situations.

In the last five to ten years, there have not been so many guns in the country. This should not be. If nothing is done, we will be like Honduras, El Salvador, Somalia, Yemen and so on. We need to do something. Next Sunday I will be protesting in the streets.