Patrick Shen’s documentary, La Source, screened on Friday, Sept. 27, at Cinéma du Parc as part of the 2013 Montreal International Black Film Festival. The film features Josué Lajeunesse: a native Haitian whose dream to bring potable water to his village outside of Port-au-Prince was sidelined when political instability drove the single father of four to move to the United States in 1989. Shen and Lajeunesse, both of whom were present for the screening, engaged in a question-and-answer session after the film.
The documentary is named for Lajeunesse’s village and depicts the village’s quest for clean water. The treacherous hike to a mountain-top spring had long hindered residents’ access to drinkable water, and so they had to drink from the contaminated Grosseline River runing through the village proper. Plans to build a cistern were put off for generations due to insufficient funds. When the 2010 earthquake diverted much of the spring water, making the situation in La Source even more dire, Lajeunesse felt compelled to return to Haiti and resume the project that he and his brother had first attempted more than twenty years prior.
The film conveys the isolation that Lajeunesse endures when separated his suffering community members after the earthquake and how the students and faculty of Princeton University, where he works, came together as a surrogate community for him once they learned of his mission. The fundraising efforts of this same community amounted to more than $30,000, largely contributing to the ultimate success of the project.
The genesis of Shen’s and Lajeunesse’s collaboration, in itself, is remarkable. Shen learned of Lajeunesse’s long-time dream while working on his 2009 film, The Philosopher Kings, which presents bits of wisdom the custodial staff of American universities. Of the eight custodians who interviewed in The Philosopher Kings, Lajeunesse was the one to whom audiences were drawn. For Shen, who cites ‘redefining herosim’ as his mission in film-making, this response confirmed Lajeunesse as deserving a film of his own.
The documentary was not only effective in painting a realistic and informative portrait of the socio-economically-rooted health problems in Haiti, but also in accomplishing the dreams of both its creator and its star. Lajeunesse told the audience that his three goals for his village are “a school, water, and a medical clinic.” The film launched a campaign to help fund these goals, and the Montreal International Black Film Festival named Lajeunesse the winner of the 2013 Social Impact Award. In exchange, Shen was inspired by Lajeunesse “…to understand that being heroic means being dedicated to an idea and willing to put the work in day after day.” The symbiotic relationship between director and star was palpable.
La Source addresses the importance of community, and how the powerful tool of storytelling can sustain it across time and space. Shen, a believer in the might of stories, told the audience “…they can transform the way we live our lives…they can even save lives.” If the purpose of a documentary is to provoke thought as well as to inform and to entertain, then La Source is a major success.
