A new short film,
17 Year Locust, shot on location in Lafayette, La., about an unlikely crossing of paths between two people living very different lives, their only common connection being the French language, will premiere on TV5MONDE USA and the New Orleans French Film Festival later this month.
The short film titled
17 Year Locust follows René (Stevenson Jean), a Haitian immigrant, who moves to Louisiana in search of a better life with his pregnant wife. When Odile (Becca Begnaud), an elderly Cajun woman in hospice care, demands a French-speaking caregiver, the staffing agency reaches out to René, who is the only option they have. After intense conversation, Odile learns from René that he intends to abandon his own culture and traditions in exchange for becoming “a true citizen,” an American. It’s only then she feels brave to open up and share her own story of American assimilation and the great cost that came with it.