’A maunga to climb’: Meet the speakers
TILANE JONES
President of US film-maker Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY
Tell us about your work
I run ARRAY Releasing; we distribute films by film-makers of colour and women of all kinds. We also have our development and production arm, which handles shows like Queen Sugar, where we have all women directors.
How is our progress so far?
This has been an industry and a system that has been around for close to 100 years so we still have work ahead of us, but I do think that it’s going in a positive direction. And I think a lot of that is because we have taken it upon ourselves to make sure that we see ourselves.
Being woke has become “fashionable” — does that help or hinder the cause?
I feel like there’s always going to be that percentage of the population that may not get it, but you know, we have to start somewhere.
You distributed Merata: How Mum Decolonised the Screen, the documentary about pioneering Ma¯ ori film-maker Merata Mita. How did that come about?
We know one of the producers on the film, Chelsea Winstanley — love her. We were so honoured when she reached out to us . . . and then just hearing the words from Mrs Mita, a lot of those things Ava has said as well. They’re both activists, they both became filmmakers later in life and they both spoke to the importance of people seeing their images on screen, and that those people are also making those images for themselves.
What does an ideal future look like?
For me, I would say that when you can go to a movie theatre any time of the day, in any city and see a multitude of films, by people of colour and by women. I hope it’s not far off.
STEVEN CANALS
Creator, producer, writer and director of Pose, the American series about New York’s ballroom scene in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Tell us about your work
For so long, especially in film and TV, people of colour, LGBT people, women, have not had a seat at the table and I would hope that what we are doing with Pose is modelling for the industry — both domestically and internationally — how to do things equitably.
How is our progress so far?
A show like Pose being on the air and being received so warmly . . . gives me hope that we will continue to see progress and change. I just hope that folks aren’t sitting back because of Pose and saying, “Well, we’re done. We’ve done all we had to do,” because it’s only one show and it can’t represent the entire scope of the community.
Being “woke” has become fashionable — does that help or hinder the cause?
Claiming to be woke, I think just sets people up for failure. I would prefer that people be honest about what they don’t know, because . . . if I came in claiming to be “woke” around issues of trans-ness, what’s the likelihood that I’m going to hire trans people to aid me in telling that story? Probably smaller because I’m claiming to know everything. The only way we can start to combat that tokenism is to have people of colour and LGBT people creating their own content.
What does an ideal future look like?
For so long we’ve had to fight, to beg to be let in the door and what we’re seeing right now . . . is folks are now going off and finding their own ways not only to create new content but find new places for that content to live. I’m excited to see this next generation continue to break the rules and be really subversive.
JAYCEE TANUVASA Theatre creator, trans-activist, star of FAFSWAG, the Auckland collective celebrating queer Pacific Islander culture
Tell us about your work
I work in theatre tackling a lot of trans narratives and for a lot of people that come to watch, this is their first time seeing trans stories played out, and for my community, it’s the first time they’re seeing themselves and hearing themselves on stage so they really can connect with that.
How is our progress so far?
I think New Zealand’s one of the safer countries, I can honestly admit that we do have a bit of privilege here, but it doesn’t mean that we’re perfect. The only form of exposure, opportunities and representation that we get is either in the news or it’s all very comedic. I think it’s really important to let people know that we want to be humanised — we need to be shown in various versions of ourselves, as sisters, as partners, as lovers, as positive contributors to society.
Being woke has become “fashionable” — does that help or hinder the cause?
There’s that battle that this is good exposure and representation for us . . . but what we don’t need is someone to collaborate with us and when the work is done, just leave us. We need people that want to have long-lasting relationships, for the bigger picture, which is for us to finally live in this world and feel safe.
What does an ideal future look like?
The ultimate goal is for trans people to feel safe. When people see who we are through media, they understand us, they’re educated about us and so when they see us in public they can connect with us, and we can feel safe because they are aware.
KERRY WARKIA Producer behind New Zealand films Waru and Vai
Tell us about your work
Making Waru was us saying, “We’re going to build a system that we think is something different and more in tune to the kind of way we want to work, and then we’re going to ask the women if they want to be part of that and if that is going to work for them” — and that worked. Twice. Any other time I still feel like we step into a system that is a colonial pre-existing system and no matter how good the intentions of the people who work in those places are, actually we require radical change to be able to be more inclusive.
How is our progress so far?
While it’s good to look at what has been done, the flipside is also seeing how long it’s taken us to just do those things and then how much longer it might take us to actually have radical change.
Being woke has become “fashionable” — does that help or hinder the cause?
The idea that some representation is better than nothing, has massive flaws. Genuine inclusiveness means that those people that you bring in, their opinions have to be heard. You want to tell a story about Ma¯ ori women — are you still getting white men to write that story or are you bringing in Ma¯ ori women to start writing?
Waru
After the success of and Vai, have things got easier?
It was really, really wonderful to have writers’ rooms full of women
. . . but these systems, they’re still the same. Merata Mita remains the only singular female Ma¯ ori director of a narrative feature film. Sima Urale is the only female Pacific director who has directed a feature film in New Zealand, and that was in 2008 [Apron Strings]. Roseanne Liang made My Wedding and Other Secrets in 2011, which is the only narrative feature film written, directed and starring a pan-Asian woman. Vai is the only feature film in New Zealand that was written, directed, produced and starred Pacific women. That’s why it does still feel like a fight, like it’s this incredible maunga to climb.
What does an ideal future look like?
If we can say, in our day-to-day work, “What are the things that I’m doing that are genuinely enabling these stories to happen?” — that genuine discussion about what actually can be done, what people can do in their roles is a good step forward. The question is, how do we keep it going? Because it can’t just be these one-offs and then we’re all still at the bottom of this maunga.