Madame Pipi
I am in the midst of creating a short documentary entitled "Madame Pipi."
Working in the luxurious washrooms of South Florida’s nightlife, attending to the needs of clienteles next to toilets, has not been the ideal dream job. Madame Pipi follows the lives of three Haitian female bathroom attendants juxtaposed to the fast-paced culture of South Florida’s nightlife. The film will visually examine the determination of these women to survive economically in a gentrifying and culturally diverse society. Relatively invisible by the women who swing in and out of the bathroom stalls, the ones who do recognize these Haitian women recognize them as “Mama’s.” They provide all the essentials in the sanctuary of the washroom – they care for the inebriated – they are the advisors – they are the eyes and ears for the proprietors – they are people. While Donald Trump has labeled Haiti and other African nations a “Shithole country,” the remittances that these ladies are earning through their tips working in “shit” also is a contribution to the larger benefaction that the diaspora sends to Haiti, which are a third of country’s GDP.