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Slice-of-Life Indie Drama Ludi Offers a Heartfelt Critique of the American Dream

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At the start of Ludi (2021), the small, stirring slice-of-life drama that closes out the African Diaspora International Film Festival this weekend, writer-director Edson Jean offers a Haitian proverb: “Breasts are never too heavy for those who have them.” The cheeky adage implores people—well, primarily women—to assume their responsibilities, no matter how large.

Ludi (Shein Mompremier), the young nurse at the center of this 81-minute story, seems to have taken this sentiment to heart. When Ludi was a child, her family traded Haiti for Miami in search of the American dream. Years later, she’s still looking for it—and is willing to sacrifice her sleep, her social life, and even her moral compass, to find it. 

But Ludi, Jean’s directorial debut, knows what most immigrants living in the U.S. quickly learn: There’s no guarantee that dream becomes a reality. As our protagonist puts it: “I’m still chasing a better life, but in this country, it looks like I’ll die before I reach it.”

The film kicks off with the click of a cassette tape. While Ludi gets ready for work, she listens to a recorded message from her relatives in Haiti, a clever recurring tactic that gives the film organic exposition. Fafa, her godchild, kindly asks Ludi to buy her a dress for graduation. In a heartbreaking sequence, Ludi records her response: “Forgive me, because I won’t have enough money for the dress.” She winces, rewinds the tape, and re-records her answer into a maybe. Then, into a yes.

Ludi’s first act is an energetic, tense portrait of a woman trying to make ends meet. An opportunity for the extra cash presents itself when Blanca (Madelin Marchant), Ludi’s lippy landlady who doubles as a nurse, asks her to cover a private care shift. But Ludi’s employer forbids outside work, so she declines: “Lying in secret is still lying,” she tells Blanca.



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