Brewster and Stephenson recently did an interview with SHOOTING PEOPLE and spoke about their approach to filmmaking. See exchange below.
Friday, November 28th, 2008INTERVIEWS WITH FELLOW SHOOTERS
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01: Michele Stephenson and Joe Brewster — Slaying Goliath
From: Jesse Epstein
Email: Jesse*at*shootingpeople.org
Member Name: JesseErica
Directors’ Bio
Michle Stephenson and Joe Brewster are a husband and wife filmmaker team
who have struggled to maintain the balance between their artwork and
raising two children in Brooklyn. Joe is a physician and psychiatrist with
two award-winning narrative films on his resume including THE KEEPER
(Sundance Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Black
Filmmakers’ Hall of Fame) and THE KILLING ZONE . Michle is a human rights
attorney who has produced critically acclaimed documentaries on human
rights and race relations. Michle’s more recent documentary film, FACES OF
CHANGE, (Locarno International Film Festival, SilverDocs) was recently
broadcast on PBS.
http://shootingpeople.org/cards/MicheleStephenson
—
JE: Tell us a bit about your films. And, specifically the film screening
in December.
Joe: Our most recent documentary, Slaying Goliath, will be screening at
the African Diaspora Film Festival December 5th, 6th and 9th at the
Anthology Film Archives. It is the latest installment in an intimate
storytelling approach we like to engage in with our documentaries. The film
chronicles the lives of a 10 and 11 year-old boys’ basketball team based in
Harlem, as they travel to Cocoa Beach, Florida to attempt to win the
prestigious AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) National Basketball championship.
Michele: At first glance the thought might be that this is a documentary
about poverty-stricken African-Americans that overcome obstacles to win the
big prize at the end but that is not the formula.
Joe: That type of film that might enrich our bank account but our
documentary goes beyond typical sports films clichs. It begins with sports
and quickly forces the audience to ask a few difficult questions.
Michele: What is the price of winning? Or even what is winning? There are
also powerful subplots and themes explored in the film. As parents of a boy
on that team, we had a unique perspective and stake in the dynamics at
play. So, the film insists that we re-examine the expectations we as a
community may have for our children. Who is this game for anyway and what
does winning mean?
JE: A lot of your films bring up important social issues, and in producing
political films how have you found ways to balance the desire to raise
issues with storytelling?
Joe: The best way to learn about our films is to take a peak into our
personal lives. We each come to the art form by way of alternative routes.
Michele: Joe was a psychiatric resident with a love for cinema before he
started to make short films in his living room. I came to film by way of my
personal investment in human rights during law school. We both made a
conscious decision to follow our artistic passion and blend that with our
social concerns, but the financial limitations were constantly at play.
Joe: How do you raise money to pay for a film and for baby food? How do we
raise our African-American boys in New York City, pay our bills while
fulfilling our desire for self-expression? And because we are both only a
generation away from poverty, we feel indebted to making a statement about
social issues that are dear to us. How can I feel successful if my brother
struggles? These personal struggles have become the backbone for the
creation of our media company, THE RADA FILM GROUP (www.radafilm.com) as
well as integral premises to our films. The Keeper and The Killing Zone
were narrative films that addressed our own personal issues with being
professional Black New Yorkers and the personal inner tension that
existence causes in relation to our families and community.
Michele: In FACES OF CHANGE, which aired on PBS last summer and is now
available on DVD (www.amazon.com), our personal experiences of
discrimination and racism became a basis for dialogue and exchange with
activists from discriminated communities across the globe.
Joe: As we have recently become more involved with raising a family the
focus of our work has become much more intimate and emotional. Our
struggles as parents of color trying to do the right thing in this complex
world are represented by our two most recent documentaries, SLAYING GOLIATH
(www.slayinggoliath.net ) and AN AMERICAN PROMISE (www.radafilm.com). In
SLAYING GOLIATH. Our son was on the Harlem team before we decided to pick
up the camera and wear our filmmaker hats, and, as you can imagine, the
stakes were high for us, both as filmmakers and parents.
JE: How does living in New York inform your storytelling?
Joe: New York is of course, where we live, the place where we dream and
watch our kids disappear into the subway horizon each morning. The
diversity of ideas and peoples here are food to our work. This is where we
hatch most of our ideas based on the people we encounter throughout the
day. The city has also become a featured character in most of our films.
Michele: However I would not suggest that there aren’t interesting
characters outside New York City. I’ve lived in Haiti, Montreal, and Cape
Verde for more years than New York City. I would like to think that those
places are equally influential on my work, if you will.
Joe: I can see that. What we ultimately produce as filmmakers is
influenced by a number of factors; where we live, whether our son’s school
tuition is due, even our early childhood memories.
Michele: In psychiatry you call that counter transference, right? Your
patient comes to you with emotional baggage and how much you are ultimately
able to assist him or her depends on your own emotional baggage.
Joe: Make this work for me.
Michele: My point is that, as in psychiatry, a good outcome depends on
one’s receptivity to strong affect. Pain, humor, embarrassment are emotions
which must also be accessed by the filmmaker in order to nurture our
characters on camera and in the cutting room. I suppose that, although New
York City can be a very difficult place to live in, its 24/7 energy can
also feed us, push us to create.
JE: Can you talk a bit about some differences between working in narrative
and documentary?
Joe: There are more similarities than dissimilarities. Beautiful pictures
and strong emotional content are essential elements of making powerful
documentaries and narrative films. The importance of structure, plot and
character development are also similar. But, time and money are the most
important factors that differentiate the two forms of storytelling. For us
the cost of producing a documentary is substantially less expensive. This
allows us greater freedom to devote to other activities. But most
importantly, with documentary, we have a creative freedom that is
unimaginable for narrative filmmakers.
Michele: Creativity that is not impacted by investors, actors or
distributors. If we want to make a film about raising African-American boys
in Brooklyn, we don’t ask about market. (An American Promise,
www.radafilm.com) We don’t need to have Will Smith as a lead or Busta
Rhymes on the soundtrack.
Joe: We pick up our Panasonic DX 100B or a flip video camera and shoot. We
have the option of self-financing the initial phases of the project as we
look for funding and have the luxury of developing something we are
passionate about.
Michele: The films that we have chosen to develop could top the list of
all time eye rollers.
Joe: The Violence looks at survivors of domestic violence in the Haitian
community in Brooklyn. Coming Home documents the struggle of housing rights
activist Sam Jackson, years after his home was devastated by the Katrina
hurricane. But these films and their subjects motivate us. And we wake up
excited about this work every day.
JE: Talk a bit more about how you sustain yourselves as independent
filmmakers with a family. Given the current economic climate, what do you
think some key things filmmakers can do to continue their creative lives,
while also making a
living?
Joe: I always wanted to be a filmmaker and years ago I was looking for
that moment at which I could definitively say, "My name is Joe Brewster,
filmmaker" I soon realized that my goal was more akin to a marathon race.
There are those who start quickly and burn out fast. Others start out more
slowly and build over time. The important point is that if you want to
finish the race, you must have a realistic long term pace.
Michele: A second job would also be helpful. We’ve always earned outside
the film world. Joe is a psychiatrist and has always worked part time in
his field. I am an attorney and I have had to juggle filmmaking with part
time gigs. Back when real estate in Fort Greene Brooklyn, was less costly,
we invested in a two buildings, which have continued to help us get by as
funding for films come and go.
Joe: Some people don’t need to finish the race. They make one good film
and then give it up. But we are committed to investing in the process. Our
mission is to create a body of work over time that gives voice to our
communities of color.
Michele: After seeing an overwhelming number of friends working in the
film industry give up, and experiencing how we have to juggle many
different balls in the air, it is pretty clear that it is rare to make a
living in this business.
Joe: If I have one recommendation for young filmmakers, it would to be
dream with humility.
Michele: Perseverance is also the key.
JE: THANKS!
——-
SLAYING GOLIATH premieres
Friday, December 5 @ 4:00PM
Saturday, December 6 @ 7:20PM
Tuesday, December 9 @ 4:30PM
At ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES
32 2nd Avenue, New York, NY
http://www.slayinggoliath.net/
