Lady Filmmakers Festival / Social Justice Film Festival 2018 - We Matter
The television reports the news of the latest death of a person of color at the hands of law enforcement. What is the impact of this growing epidemic?
Interview with Writer/Director Sherrie Quannea
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
As a person of color the issues addressed in my film are very personal. Violence or acts of aggression against people of color at the hands of law enforcement has been a part of the fabric of my life as long as I could remember. Like many, the death of Trayvon Martin struck a deeper cord. People were tired but galvanized. I was no different. I knew I wanted to be a part of the conversation. I just didn’t know what I wanted to say just yet or how. But the murder of Tamir Rice, a twelve year old boy was just too much.
The news coverage broke my heart. How could they dehumanize and criminalize a twelve year old like that? He was described as a 20 year old adult male. I was blown away. I just kept thinking, how can it be that this young boy’s black skin added 8 years to his life and automatically made him a threat? And I knew I needed to make a film to not only initiate a conversation but to give some perspective, to humanize and personalize what people of color are going through.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
The film is worth the viewing because even though it is short, it is powerful and it has a very strong emotional impact. It is also a great way to start a conversation about a topic that can be very uncomfortable for a lot of people. I think it allows the viewer to see it as a more community issue not as an anti-police statement. And for the film buff, the way it is shot, a single continuous shot is always cool to watch.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
The universal themes in the film are a sense of justice, connection and, if we did it right, compassion. We also wanted to get to the even deeper issue of family. We all want to protect our family, our fathers, brothers, sons, etc… When one hurts, we all hurt and the only way to affect change is to come together. These universal themes are inherently personal.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
The idea for the film started as a conversation over pancakes with my partner Isaac Diaz. We focused on what we wanted to say but we still didn’t know how to say it. We started with Tamir Rice and the fact that the people reporting on the story confused a 12 year old with a 20 year old. So we knew we wanted to focus on showing the audience what a 12 year ACTUALLY looks like. Things moved on from there.
We wanted to set it up so that the viewer would be able to not only identify with the family aspect of the film but personalize it in a wider more communal sense as well. Each person in the film not only represents a person killed but a member of the community, a possible member of your family. We set out to make it personal and intimate. The final scene didn’t come about until the week of shooting. We were looking for a button. Something to drive the hurt, the fear and the reality home.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Most of the feedback we’ve received has been positive and the conversations inspired by the film have been amazing. There has been a few people that may have come into the situation with their fist up expecting it to be a film bashing the police but typically once they’ve seen it they are a bit more responsive to having the dialogue.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
I have been surprised at how well people have responded to the film in certain environments. There is a racial component to the film and there have been certain audiences where I expected to get a lot of push back and didn’t or people were really open and shared very personal stories and asked truly honest questions and received equally honest answers.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
We believe the topic is important and there definitely seems to be a shift in the atmosphere these days, we’re looking to connect to more viewers, inspire more dialogue and do our part to contribute to the change we anticipate.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
We want EVERYBODY on board for the messaging. But distributors, sales agents, and journalist would be good.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
We hope that all those who watch it are positively impacted and hopefully inspired to be more active in their communities in changing not only the system that allows for the abuses of power that result in the repeated murder or acts of aggression against people of color at the hands of law enforcement but to also get more involved with one another, people of varying races, ethnicities and backgrounds. The best way to combat the turbulence of the time is understanding and that comes with communication and interaction.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
What if it was you? Your father? Brother? Son? What would you want to happen? How would you go about fixing it?
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
We are working on a television pilot. We are also in pre-production on two more short films. One is part of a female empowerment initiative geared towards self acceptance and the other is a short about a teenage girl trying to survive the pitfalls of high school as well as her drug addicted mother.
Interview: October 2018
We Matter
The television reports the news of the latest death of a person of color at the hands of law enforcement. What is the impact of this growing epidemic?
Length: 3 minutes and 55 seconds
Director: Sherrie Quannea
Producer: Isaac Diaz
Writer: Isaac Diaz and Sherrie Quannea
About the writer, director, producer:
ISAAC DIAZ is dedicated to producing content that entertains, but elicits a reaction from the audience hopefully starting important conversations. And WeMatter does just that! WeMatter has been the culmination of a long time desire for SHERRIE QUANNEA to incorporate her social/political activism with her art and hopefully create something impactful.
Key cast: Wendy Stanton – Mother; Vincent Volaju – Father; Young Adult Male – Aaron Joseph; Young Boy – Jordon Raeford
Looking for: producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, journalists
Facebook: IKEDEntertainment
Twitter: @WeMatterFilm
Instagram: @IKEDEntertainment
Official Website: www.WeMatterFilm.com
Funders: IKED Entertainment
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? YouTube, Montreal International Film Festival 9/29/18, Social Justice Film Festival 10/12/18, Lady Filmmakers Festival 9/28/18