Don't Play with L(Kn)ives
Don’t Play with L(Kn)ives shines a light on this taboo aspect of British culture - sharing untold and retold stories - to deliver a poignant message to young people.
Interview with Director Omari 'Motion' Carter
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
This film was created as part of the Midlands Made Commissions, produced by DanceXchange (now known as FABRIC) in Birmingham, UK. The 8 films commissioned were part of a series that hoped to tell stories that had a particular relevance to the Midlands area of England. Brooke Milliner was the choreographer who applied to a call-out with the idea of creating a dance-film specifically focused on knife-crime in both the Midlands and wider-areas of the UK. Both DanceXchange and I saw his application as a fantastic opportunity to shed light on the prevalence of knife crime in the UK and create a film that could use dances as a means of activism. Activating our younger generation to continue the important discourses that surround this unfortunate reality.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Don't Play with L(Kn)ives is very unique. In the sense that it fuses hip-hop dance forms with film and spoken word poetry to narrate a very real and ongoing issue in many communities here in the UK. Regardless of the context, I feel that many people can relate to the situations that are presented within each scene. If you're a person who loves the combination of different art forms, coming together for a shared cause, then this is the film for you. It's hard-hitting at times but the messages within it our powerful and you will definitely feel activated to engage in a conversation about crime in our communities. One that needs to be had.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
It is without a doubt, that many people in the UK have been affected by knife crime. I'm not sure how comparable it is to gun crime in the US, but it's definitely too much. The murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993 provided a huge shift in the racial dynamics in the UK, and this trend of crimes against people of colour shifting societal norms is showing no sign of slowing. Yet this is only one name of many, who are murdered too often to want to mention. Brooke's cousin was a victim of knife crime, which made this project hugely personal to him and I think these themes, as painful as they are, can be reconstituted to provide a message to the people who are most at risk.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
Interestingly enough, we did not work from a script. Due to the piece itself being driven by the choreography, it was actually the choreography that was developed initially. Each scene is loosely based around true events, and therefore these events became the starting point of the choreographic development. The evolution is constant, from working with the camera in rehearsals to test shot ideas, to production meetings that would define specific locations. Our audio-visual planning would alter each day as we juggled with the logistics of the shoot itself, alongside how to best choreograph the camera, in line with the story that the movement, poetry and music we were aiming to convey.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
We have had a wonderful response during our year-long festival tour. From the festivals that we have been able to attend, it's been great to see that people are really connecting with all the elements of the work. From the spoken words to the purposeful use of hip-hop dance techniques within the piece. Of course, it is not always easy to get review-quality feedback when your work is touring internationally, but there have been many conversations about how the film can work in tandem with other organisations; crime-prevention orientated or otherwise.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
We are hoping to receive more feedback from younger audiences, to see if the work could actually change their perspective on the issue. What the festival tour has done, is challenge our values when it comes to distribution. It's important to get your work seen by as many people as possible, however, it is equally as important to ensure that your work is seen by the people for whom it is truly intended.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
We hope that making the film more visible with the We Are Moving Stories platform will encourage others to make and commission further work with similar messages. We also hope that our work will allow both dance-makers and moving-image makers to see the value of this hybridity within their practice. We additionally hope to engage with audiences who can relate to the themes and who may want to use our work as a resource for further education, education and workshopping.
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 now at a stage where we would love to partner with charity, crime-prevention, programmers or educational organisations who have a connection with communities who would benefit from engaging with our work. We would also love to seek further commissioning opportunities to create more dance-film of this ilk. Telling narrative and poignant stories that hold weight in an ever-saturated digital climate.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
This film is a message. A message to think. To think about your actions. To analyse the consequences. Looking back at who we have lost. In order to appreciate what we can gain by being better to one another.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
How do we contribute to the prevention of knife-crime within the UK, and lift our voices, bodies and artistic capacities to be voices of and for our generation?
Would you like to add anything else?
Thank you for this opportunity to speak further about our work. The work you are doing is fantastic and we feel so humbled and honoured to be a part of this legacy of content makers that you have brought to fruition. Onwards and sideways!
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
The Motion Dance Collective are continuing to bridge the gap between dance and film language through workshops, curations and production of dance-film works across the globe. Series Three of our screendance podcast is releasing later this year. Choreographer Brooke Milliner continues to judge, dance and choreograph works for both film and live events. As well as producing work with 'When Time Was New' A Hip Hop Dance Theatre company, Fiya House - a world renowned Poppin' dance collective and continues to follow his love of music production. I am currently continuing to lecture dance-film at London Contemporary University while developing my creative research in dance-film, body percussion and hip-hop dance practices with the MDC.
Interview: April 2023
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, 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
Don't Play with L(Kn)ives
Don’t Play with L(Kn)ives shines a light on this taboo aspect of British culture - sharing untold and retold stories - to deliver a poignant message to young people.
Director: Omari 'Motion' Carter
Producer: Motion Dance Collective
Writer: Brooke Milliner (Choreographer, Concept and Commissioned Artist)
About the writer, director and producer:
OMARI 'MOTION' CARTER is a screendance practitioner, hip-hop culture aficionado and lecturer based in London (UK). He has choreographed, directed, performed, and produced a varied reel of dance-film with screendance production company, The Motion Dance Collective, which he founded in 2011. Omari is a graduate of the world’s first Masters degree in Screendance at London Contemporary Dance School, where he currently works as a lecturer in dance.
BROOKE MILLINER is best known as the choreographer and lead dancer of Plague, winner of two Hip Hop International World Championship titles; and as Co-Director of Fiya House – the UK’s leading Popping collective. Brooke has built a reputation as the forerunner of the UK streetdance scene having won numerous international competitions as well as being regularly invited to judge competitions all over the world.
The MOTION DANCE COLLECTIVE believe in the importance of creating thought-provoking dance-film content and increasing the presence of a narrative dance practice into the dance, film and digital arts community. Specialising in the creation, presentation and education of screendance practice, our work is catered to artists & companies with an interest in developing and distributing works that bridge the gap between moving body and moving image.
Looking for: distributors, journalists and film festival directors
Facebook: The Motion Dance Collective
Twitter: @TheMDCollective
Instagram: @themdcollective
Hashtags used: #MDC #MDCFilms #screendance #dancefilm #hiphopdance #knifecrime #prevention #artforchange
Website: www.motiondancecollective.com
Other: YouTube
Made in association with: DanceXchange (now known as FABRIC).
Funders: Arts Council England & Birmingham City Council
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month?
Currently Online: https://youtu.be/kvmVGLPBHY8