Merging documentary and poetry, this short film follows world-renowned poet Sunni Patterson’s return to New Orleans, twelve years after hurricane Katrina.

Interview with Director/Producer Kiyoko McCrae

Congratulations! Why are you making your film?

Thank you! We’re very excited to make this film to highlight world-renowned poet Sunni Patterson and share her brilliance with a wider audience. The story of her return to New Orleans after being displaced for twelve years following Katrina is told through a primarily observational-style documentary as she struggles to come to terms with her hometown that has been much altered. Sunni Patterson exemplifies what I consider to be the best qualities in an artist. She is exceptionally talented and strives to use her art to connect, heal and move people to action. She speaks from the heart and not her ego.

She has this incredible gift to see both the ills in our world as well as the beauty and strength and with her wit, razor sharp critique and generous spirit. She gives us hope and helps to make sense of the world in these increasingly volatile and hostile times. She is a modern day jali or griot. Sunni’s return to New Orleans is representative of the experience that many people have had post-Katrina. As our city is rapidly changing, we felt like it was really important to examine Katrina’s impact today as well as the many factors that are contributing to gentrification and the many ways in which New Orleans culture is at risk of disappearing because of rising costs of living.

Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?

Sunni. New Orleans. Cultural resistance. Those are three main reasons that come to mind and each is intertwined with the other. Sunni embodies the Black Lives Matter movement and a movement for liberation and freedom. Her presence, her words, her spirit make you believe in the possibility of freedom. Once you hear her words, it is hard to turn away. The film captures the beauty of New Orleans that isn’t typically captured in film. It celebrates New Orleans as a cultural center of the African diaspora, the northernmost Caribbean city, a vibrant and historic center of Black culture. The film signifies the importance that culture plays in shifting our values and the dominant narrative of white supremacy. The film is also very unique in that blurs the lines between documentary and narrative as it merges Sunni’s original poetry, music, dance, and magical realism.

Artists in Exile - Sunni Patterson | Photo by Remy Williams

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

Everybody wants to belong somewhere. Everybody is seeking home whether it is by building a new home or returning home. Artist in Exile is about the poet Sunni Patterson but it also about Sunni, the mother, wife, daughter, granddaughter who for the past twelve years has been trying to make her way back home. In the twelve year span since she was displaced by Katrina she became a mother to two children and a wife and has lived in Houston and Atlanta and traveled all over the country and the world. Throughout her journey, she always had a longing to be back home where her parents raised her, where her grandparents built homes. The home that she grew up in, in the Ninth ward was destroyed by the levee breaches following hurricane Katrina. We wanted to capture the struggle and triumph of her journey back home. We also wanted to capture some of her feelings about how the city is changing. Ultimately the film captures the beauty of her people, who, despite all it, still call New Orleans home.

How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?

Co-director Jason Foster and I as well as producer Stephanie McKee of Junebug Productions have worked with Sunni Patterson for many years. Artist in Exile was an idea that we had years ago while Sunni was still living in Atlanta. Back in 2013 she wrote, "I am an artist in exile...a spirit on the run...displaced from the familiar, transplanted into the foreign, only to discover that the one has become the other.. Either things happened “before the Storm” or “after the Storm.” I wonder if our Ancestors held this same thought during their displacement to these shores. Is the cultural genetic passed from one generation to the next, one of a nomadic people in search of a place?” This became the seed for the piece. When Sunni and her family return to New Orleans earlier this year, we decided it was time to make this film.

Artists in Exile - Studio BE mural by Brandon Odums

What type of feedback have you received so far?

Our latest collaboration, a 3-minute poetry film of Sunni Patterson’s poem “Black Back” will be released later this month. It is a celebration of Black love. The same poem is also one of the many poems featured in “Gomela/to return: Movement of Our Mother Tongue”, a live theater performance produced by Junebug Productions that is currently touring. The feedback that we have received from that film has been overwhelmingly positive and we’re excited to continue merging styles and mediums to highlight Sunni’s poetry and her story.

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

The feedback we received from both “Black Back” and “Gomela” has encouraged us to continue collaborating and creating work that both celebrates the beauty and resilience of Black folks in New Orleans and beyond.

What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?

We are in our final day for our Kickstarter campaign and we are looking to raise our stretch goal which will enable us to hire our composer to score the entire film, as opposed to smaller sections, and it will enable us to hire a colorist and an animator. We are also interested in connecting with distributors working in network television and online platforms as well as film festivals that would be interested in featuring the film.

Artist in Exile - L-R Kiyoko McCrae (Co-Director), Octarve Anderson, Jr., Stephanie McKee, Zac Manuel (Director of Photography)

Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?

We are seeking sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, and journalists to amplify the film’s visibility. We would like to broaden our audience and make this film available to audiences all over the country. We are seeking community organizations who would be interested in hosting screenings that lead into discussions about gentrification and cultural equity.

What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?

We would like this film to be a conversation starter for audiences who are also experiencing gentrification that threatens the cultural fabric of communities all across the country.

What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?

What is the relationship between cultural and racial equity? What is the artistic expression of Black Lives Matter?

What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?

We are also working on a complimentary piece, a short poetry film of Sunni’s poem, “My City Ain’t for Sale” which is a witty and sharp critique of gentrification.

Interview: December 2017

_______________________________________________________________________________

We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela

_______________________________________________________________________________

Artist in Exile

Merging documentary and poetry, this short film follows world-renowned poet Sunni Patterson’s return to New Orleans, twelve years after hurricane Katrina.

Length: 10 mins.

Director: Kiyoko McCrae & Jason Foster

Producer: Kiyoko McCrae

Writer: Sunni Patterson

About the writer, director and producer:

Kiyoko McCrae (Producer/Co-Director), a theater and film director and producer is Director of Visible Productions and former Managing Director of Junebug Productions. Film directing credits include Come Home, Black Back, Free Southern Theater: Beginnings. www.kiyokomccrae.com

Jason Foster (Co-Director/Editor), director, editor and producer is co-founder of FosterBear Films whose work has been featured in the New York Times, Shadow and Act, Indiewire, TruthOut, Okayplayer. Jason is a 2015 New Orleans Film Society Emerging Voices Fellow. www.fosterbearfilms.com

Key cast: Sunni Patterson

Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists): sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, community partners

Social media handles:

Facebook: @artistinexilefilm

Instagram: @artistinexile

Funders: New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, The Tricentennial Story Incubator Project, a partnership of NOVAC, New Orleans Film Society, Film New Orleans, Kickstarter and #CreateLouisiana

Made in association with: Junebug Productions

Estimated completion date: April 2018