Leah Gordon and Eddie Hutton-Mills’ ambitious, evocative and moving documentary uses an explosively colourful carnival as a prism through which to explore and understand one of the Americas’ most troubled, vibrant and charismatic countries.

Each year, the story of Haiti – past, present, future – is told through an annual carnival in the southern port town of Jacmel. A onetime French colony that later became the first place in the Caribbean to get electricity, the art-rich, cash-poor town sustained serious damage in the 2010 earthquake – but appears determined to rebuild. From the extravagant masks and dazzling costumes to the magnificent pantomimes and the characters who perform them, Gordon and Hutton-Mills use every aspect of carnival to spotlight the character, perseverance and joie de vivre of Haiti’s often-silenced and widely misunderstood people.