It has been one year since a deadly, 7.0-magnitude earthquake flattened parts of Haiti. The devastation still left behind fills the screen in the new, three-part documentary "Inside Disaster Haiti."
Making its broadcast premiere on TVO on January 11, 12 and 13 (9 pm EST), filmmaker Nadine Pequeneza spares viewers nothing in this raw look at life in Haiti after the quake.
Rubble is everywhere. Even today 30 million cubic tonnes of rock and debris have yet to be cleared away, Pequeneza tells CTV.ca.
Displaced families scour the streets for wood scraps that can pass as doors in the makeshift shanties they live in -- shanties that fill 1,500 survivor camps.
"What I saw in Haiti was more intense than I ever imagined. I wasn't emotionally ready for it," says Pequeneza.
"In the beginning we were bombarded with people wanting to talk to us. Unfortunately, the Haitians were expecting change faster than any relief organization could bring it."
Pequeneza's idea, at first, was to document the challenges faced by disaster relief teams, especially in a world plagued by an increasing number of natural disasters.
In January of 2007 Pequeneza approached the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC). Manoeuvering through the bureaucratic red tape proved to be a challenge.
"It was tricky because the Red Cross is a large organization with 187 societies around the world," says Pequeneza.
Eventually, permission was granted to Pequeneza's film crew to shadow the Red Cross's relief specialists out on the field.
Unable to know what disaster would be the focus of her film, or when or where it would strike, Pequeneza waited.
Her crew packed food rations, mosquito nets, generators and sleeping bags. They tracked tropical storms, earth tremors and rumbling volcanoes.
Then, disaster stuck Haiti on January 12, 2010.
Thirty-six hours later, Pequeneza's film crew and the Red Cross relief teams crossed the Dominican border into Haiti.
Relief efforts can't replace good government
"When I first arrived I was heartened to see people coming together to do what needed to be done," says Pequeneza. "Perseverance and camaraderie filled the air."
That feeling is reflected by survivors like Marcel Phevenum, who is shown in the film living with his wife and son in the Champ de Mars, one of Haiti's largest survivor camps.
Phevenum and others express their hopefulness and determination to return to a normal life one day. But those hopes change to frustration very quickly, even for director Pequeneza.
"I did feel hopeful in the first month of shooting, especially when I saw all the international commitment and money coming in," she says.
"Having gone back six months after the project I am less hopeful."
Pequeneza's biggest concerns surround the political instability that plagues this poor country.
"Throughout this disaster you never saw Haiti's president touring the hospitals or making speeches to rally peoples' spirits," says Pequeneza.
While the media reported on Haiti's lack of sewage systems and no access to clean water for 70 per cent of its population, this reality plagued the country long before the earthquake hit.
"The problem with Haiti is that there is no real government in place to hand things over to," says Pequeneza.
"I know this documentary can't solve all of Haiti's problems -- and there are many. But I hope that it can be a catalyst for change."
