School blaze
Award-winning new filmmaker Justin Simien talks about his explosive race satire…
Winner of a host of US awards, including the Special Jury Prize at Sundance 2014, Dear White People is the super-sharp satirical debut by Justin Simien, rightly earmarked by Variety as one of the ‘10 Directors To Watch’. Set in an Ivy League college, it tracks the events leading up to a party thrown by white students to “liberate your inner negro”, and the (national) response. Unbelievable? Think again…
“Something called the Compton Cookout happened at UC Irvine, in California [ in February 2010]; it gained national attention,” says Simien, pointing out that such race-mocking parties are not a new phenomenon but now go viral due to social media. “But the fallout was the most interesting part to me: you had these white kids who felt that their freedom of speech was being impinged upon; they were trying to radicalise and fight against this injustice on their campus. It got very complicated.”
Marrying this to his own experiences at Chapman University, also in California, where Simien was “a black person in a very white space”, he shot a fake trailer and put it on crowdfunding site Indiegogo, targeting $25,000. That figure was hit in three days. Scouting and casting began, with the ever-excellent Dennis Haysbert signing on as the dean, and Brandon P. Bell, Tessa Thompson, Teyonah Parris and Tyler James Williams playing African-American students whose identities prove far more fluid than media and cultural stereotypes would have us believe.
“Life is complicated. I like it when stories reflect that,” Simien shrugs. “White moviegoers tend to really like the movie because it’s this universal story about finding balance between the character you have to play in society, and who you really are. Everyone goes through that. Black audiences have a slightly more complicated response because the black characters…” He weighs his words. “There are things going on with them that are not easy to digest. I love movies that are challenging, and hold a mirror up.”
But wasn’t he afraid to deal with such hot-button topics? “When I get afraid about how people are going to react, especially if I feel I’m saying something truthful, I think, ‘OK, I should leave that in’,” he smiles.
Well, the raves and awards have proven Simien right, should he need validation, and Hollywood doors are now swinging open. “Anthony Mackie and I took this dark comedy, Make A Wish, to Paramount, and we’re gearing up to make that film,” he says, “and I’ve talked openly about how I think Dear White People should be a television show.” He once more chooses his words carefully. “I don’t have an announcement for you per se, but… I think it could happen.” JG
ETA | 10 July Dear White People opens this month.
‘Life’s complicated. I like it when stories reflect that’