Konpè (Anthony) Filo (Pascal)Anthony Pascal, affectionately as Konpè Filo, was born in 1953 in Grand Goave, Haiti, and is the eldest of 12 children. Pascal hosts Kalfou, a television show on Télé Radio Ginen. He hosts a radio show at Télé Radio Ginen as well. He is one of the mot popular and respected journalists in Haiti. He began his career with radio theater and progressed to focus on human rights. He attended the National Conservatory in Port-au-Prince where he was trained as an actor. When Mary Gaetjens first traveled to Haiti in 1989, she participated in Vodou ceremonies with him. He was a very dear friend of her father's and a Vodou initiate. Gaetjens is very grateful that Pascal was willing to let her accompany him. Gaetjens recently asked Pascal how he got his nickname, Konpè Filo. His answer illustrated his unique method of activism. Throughout his life he's cared for Haiti and her people in the gentle, compassionate and fun-loving way his character, Konpè Filo, did in Morisseau-Leroy's Haitian adaption of Antigone. As a student in the play at the National Conservatory, Pascal played Konpè Filo, adviser to King Crayon (Creon, King Oedipus' brother). King Crayon was dressed as a member of the Tonton Makout (Duvalier's secret police force). It was a political risk the director of the play deemed worth taking, though in the end the director was beaten by Duvalier himself for insolence. Konpè Filo is one of Haiti's most beloved citizens. He insists to this day that he's not political, but his influence is powerful. He managed what many did not, he stayed alive during François Duvalier's regime. He was not imprisoned for his liberal views until November of 1980, when he was removed from Radio Haiti while hosting his show. He was exiled in December of that same year. He returned to Haiti in February 1986 after Duvalier was ousted. He was honored by a hero's welcome and a crowd that walked with him from the airport north of Port-au-Prince across the city to its south border where he has resided for most of his life. Antigone represented the tens of thousands of Haitians who were killed during the Duvalier dictatorship. She fought with compassion, but was emphatic about inalienable human rights. Creon defended his own brand of law and order, which was nothing more than the elimination of anyone who opposed his authority. Ultimately, every character in Antigone, including Creon himself, realized that Antigone was right, but justice did not save her. As was true during the Duvaliers' regimes, the characters in Antigone suffered because they stood for justice. Antigone illustrated that acts of heroism were fatal. Read More Read Less