Pan African Film Festival / HBO Go - See You Yesterday
Executive produced by Spike Lee, two Brooklyn teenage science prodigies invent make-shift time machines to save one's brother from being wrongfully killed by a police officer.
Interview with Writer/Director Stefon Bristol
Watch See You Yesterday on Prime Video
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
For me to graduate from NYU as a director, I needed to make a thesis film. When I was writing this, it was the summer of 2014. It was the summer when Mike Brown and Eric Gardner got murdered by the police. And not so long before these murders, George Zimmerman got acquitted of murdering Trayvon Martin. These events that summer bled into my script. And from that inspiration, I decided to use the idea of time travel to have a conversation about police brutality.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Why wouldn't you want to watch brilliant Black science geeks from Brooklyn master the ways of time travel? I wrote and directed this piece because I've never seen a film like this before. Usually, when you see young Black teens on screen, their stories are about gang violence, drug use, or somebody's girl is pregnant. Those are not the stories I want to tell. They're overdone. Young Black people's experiences in America are much more than that.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
We still need to talk about police brutality. I feel that the awareness of this subject is dying out, but the murders are not. It's personal for me because I keep hearing about so much mistreatment by police from some of my friends. The idea of time travel in this film works well because it accentuates that police brutality will continue to happen.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
Around 2015, I was about to shoot this film in September of that year. I had really bad producers, and I fired them and put the shooting on hold. Lesson learned: Don't hire your friends to produce for you. Becuase of that, I got to work on my script a lot more. I hired my awesome collaborator, Fredrica Bailey, to help co-write the script with me. Thanks to her, the script has gotten a lot better than when I was trying to write, direct, and produce by myself. Everything in film is a team effort. Even writing.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Everyone loved it! Every time I screen this movie at a festival or have my friends watch it via a private link with a password, people would rave about it. I'm very blessed and humbled to have this kind of response. I had a lot of folks tell me that they cried at the end. Which is a reaction I'm a little surprised by, because I was not expecting that.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
The biggest feedback from some people, is why was CJ so aggressive to the police officers. And I have to keep reminding the audience that CJ knows that her brother is about to die... like... the third time! So of course she wouldn't be calm. But, my biggest beef I have with that kind of feedback is why nobody asks how come the officers are never calm or professional? As a young Black male, I'm often lectured by my family about making sure that I'm calm and cool when I'm stopped by the police. This is a common practice among many Black families. But, it doesn't seem that there is a common practice for police officers to check their partners when they might be out of line during duty. I think there needs to be more of accountability among cops.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
Honestly, I'm hoping that this film goes viral. I want this film to reach as many people as possible. I'm very proud of this film. I'm currently working on the feature of this short right now, with Spike Lee attached as executive producer.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
As for the feature, I already have my dear mentor and Morehouse brother, Spike Lee as the executive producer! He has been amazing helping me produce this feature. We are looking to shoot the feature film this year! We do have some bites from production companies and studios. So fingers crossed for us!
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I'm hoping that it will save lives and continue to have the conversation about ending police brutality. Also, show more positive images of young Black teens!
Would you like to add anything else?
You can see the short film on HBO Now and HBO Go. Check it! And share it with your friends.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Currently, I'm just focused on my feature film that is based on this short. If God is willing and the creek don't rise, we will be shooting the feature this year! I'm ready. Born ready!
Interview: March 2018
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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTIAQ+, scifi, horror, world cinema. 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
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See You Yesterday
Executive produced by Spike Lee, two Brooklyn teenage science prodigies invent make-shift time machines to save one's brother from being wrongfully killed by a police officer.
Length: 16 mins
Director: Stefon Bristol
Producer: Spike Lee, Ashley Alexander
Writer: Stefon Bristol & Fredrica Bailey
About the writer, director and producer:
Key cast: Eden Duncan-Smith, Dante Crichlow, Parish Bradley, Melvin Mogoli, Alex Emanuel, & Manny Ureña
Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists): Journalists
Social media handles:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/seeyouyesterdaymovie
Instagram: @stefonbristol & @seeyouyesterdaymovie
Other: www.seeyouyesterday.com
Funders: Spike Lee Production Grant
Made in association with: New York University's Tisch School of the Art at New York University
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? HBO Go and HBO Now