Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Gender

Female

Birthday

1934-04-02

Place of Birth

Cap-Haïtien, Haïti

Toto Bissainthe

Biography

Toto Bissainthe (April 2, 1934 – June 4, 1994) was a Haitian actress and singer known for her innovative blend of traditional Vodou and rural themes and music with contemporary lyricism and arrangements. Born in Cap-Haïtien in 1934, she left Haiti at an early age to pursue her acting studies abroad. Her career started in theatre with the company Les Griots, of which she was a founding member in 1956. Les Griots was at the vanguard of négritude-inspired cultural institutions in France, and was the first African theatre company in Paris and the first to perform of Jean Genet's play "Les Nègres". She also worked with playwright Samuel Beckett, played a co-starring role in Raoul Peck's "L'homme sur les quais", and worked with other directors such as Roger Blin, and performed in several films.

Known for

Black Girl

Eager to find a better life abroad, a Senegalese woman becomes a mere governess to a family in southern France, suffering from discrimination and marginalization.

Haitian Corner

A poet from Haiti flees to America after being imprisoned in his native country. Recovering from the experience, he begins to examine his past. One day he encounters his former torturer, and becomes obsessed with taking his revenge.

West Indies: The Fugitive Slaves of Liberty

Aboard a giant slave ship in an abandoned Citroën factory, the history of the West Indies is traced through several centuries of French oppression. The ship becomes a stage for the people to tell stories via song and dance—from their enslavement to their displacement in Metropolitan France.

The Man by the Shore

Early 1960s Haiti during 'Papa Doc' Duvalier's dictatorship seen through the eyes of a young girl whose family has suffered heavily.

Checkerboard

In a small Gallic village, tourists are regaled by street entertainers and brash prostitutes. One of the tourists, a black girl named Bessie, falls in love with local villager Bob, and he with her. Soon racial tensions erupt volcanically among tourists and townsfolk alike. All is forgiven when the respective parents of the hero and heroine save the village's water supply.

Toto Bissainthe

A portrait of Haitian singer Toto Bissainthe, whose musical journey is marked by her desire to disseminate creole singing.