THE FORGOTTEN OCCUPATION: JIM CROW GOES TO HAITI Sets Global Digital Release

Monkey Wrench Films has announced that The Forgotten Occupation: Jim Crow Goes to Haiti, the feature documentary from Haitian American filmmaker Alain Martin and executive producer Roxane Gay, will be released on TVOD and EVOD platforms worldwide. Beginning February 17, 2026, the film is available to rent and purchase globally across major digital retailers including Apple TV, Amazon, Google Play, YouTube Movies, kweliTV, Gathr, Vimeo On Demand, and Kanopy.

Directed by Alain Martin, The Forgotten Occupation examines the period of U.S. intervention in Haiti from 1915–1934 through an intimate, posthumous letter to the filmmaker’s late grandfather. The documentary explores the paradox of a man who longed for American rule and a nation scarred by it, blending personal memory with archival history to examine exile, love, migration, democracy, and Haitian resilience.

“You made a film that is unapologetically personal, not only in relationship to the letter to your grandfather (which I think works very well, by the way), but also in sharing legitimate convictions of your perspective as a result of THE JOURNEY you took with the film,” said Sean Penn in a personal letter to Martin. “I love Haiti. Most often, I don't know why. Until I remember the faces and the dreaming. I want to be a good thing for Haiti. I don't know if your film and its timing is a good thing. Or even if it might be a great thing.”

“Making this film meant going back into a history many people in the United States have never been taught, but that has shaped every part of Haitian life,” said Martin. “The occupation is essential context for understanding why Haiti is where it is today, and why so many Haitians are forced to leave home IN SEARCH OF safety and opportunity. This film is, in every sense, a love letter to my homeland — to its people, its contradictions, its beauty, and its resilience — and the worldwide digital release is an invitation for others to see Haiti as more than crisis headlines.”

“Alain Martin's The Forgotten Occupation is a masterful documentary,” said Roxane Gay. “The love, care, and rigor Martin has brought to his storytelling not only reminds us about a brutal era in Haitian history, it shows us how that forgotten occupation has indelibly shaped our present without determining our future.”

Monkey Wrench Films’ Tom Putnam and Henry C. Lystad added in a joint statement, “From the moment we saw The Forgotten Occupation, we knew this was not a chapter from a textbook, but rather an intricate cultural story that Alain has put together with such clarity and heart. We're proud to help bring this film to viewers everywhere at a time when this history seems more critical than ever to global awareness.”

The global digital launch follows recent national screenings, including a Los Angeles theatrical engagement at Lumiere Cinema in Beverly Hills in partnership with Haitian Spotlight LA, as well as community events with Haitian and Black diaspora organizations and festival and campus showings across the country. The film will next screen at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum on Friday, February 20, in partnership with Haiti Cultural Exchange.

Availability

Beginning February 17, 2026, The Forgotten Occupation is available worldwide across TVOD and EVOD platforms, allowing audiences in dozens of countries to rent or purchase the film at home.

The documentary is streaming on Apple TV, Amazon, Google Play, YouTube Movies, kweliTV, Gathr, Vimeo On Demand, and is available for institutional and educational licensing via Kanopy in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Gathr and Vimeo On Demand also support community-hosted screenings and individual viewing worldwide. Additional international platform deals are in negotiation and will be announced in the coming weeks.