I find that many people assume that the context in which most Haitians live is the dominant narrative of their lives, and that their lives are consumed by the hardship that surrounds them. When the Drum Is Beating is my attempt to forcefully counter that view.

In 2005, with my friends and collaborators Jane Regan and Daniel Morel, I made a film on the Haitian Presidential elections called Unfinished Country, which tracked the lives of a varied group of Haitians who were involved in the electoral process. My time in Haiti was intense as the country was still recovering from the violent ouster of its previous president. I was proud of the film and felt I had succeeded in creating a good Haitian-eye view of the country grappling with the democracy. I hoped that it would add to people's understanding of the troubled country, but I was also left uneasy. I felt that my film, like so much media that deals with Haiti, had just documented a current political crisis and hadn't explored Haiti in a broader sense. I, like many before me, had reinforced the idea that Haiti is solely defined by its ongoing problems.

Then I was introduced to the 60-year-old band Septentrional, and I was intrigued by the idea of doing a film on something that had survived for decades in a place where very little lasts. I was also excited about getting to know a group of artists who, in a country where most people's idea of the future is dictated by where their next meal is coming from, were committed to perpetuating an institution even beyond the time of their own participation. The members of Septentrional are all working hard to pursue their dreams, not in spite of, or as response to, the conditions in their country, but because that is simply what artists do.