‘Black Panther’ defines a new niche in filmmaking

CINEMA and television have the ability to challenge power and privilege and the way those concepts affect everyday life.

That’s the view of international actor, writer and producer Ernest Napolean.

He attended the Los Angeles premiere of Black Panther, a movie he feels has set new boundaries in the film industry.

“Naturally, a writer is an also an observer first,” Napolean said. “And in observing our society, one can clearly see the power and privilege affect our everyday lives but also lives of other people in other countries and different levels of the power structure. Daily human interactions do not settle evenly. But hopefully, they can be understood poetically through the life of the film or a series.”

Black Panther – its storytelling, cast and crew – helped set the pace for black filmmakers.

“Yes, Black Panther has definitely set the new boundaries. Big time… I was at the Los Angeles premiere a couple of weeks ago and was blown away by the movie and the support of Marvel and Disney. We have clearly come very far.

“To give you a perspective, when I first moved to Los Angeles about 15 years ago to become an actor, it was made clear to me that the industry was not looking for someone who looked like me. They said they were looking for someone white, tall, with preferably blue eyes to cast in TV series and movies. “Fast forward to 10 years later and we had a Kenyan actress winning an Academy Award named Lupita Nyongo, both names that casting directors at the time could not pronounce. And now we have her in one of the biggest blockbusters of the year. We also have Ryan Coogler who made a fantastic film that was largely ignored by the larger white audience, Fruitvale Station, to now making a Marvel film, Black Panther, which is an international hit.” While the film industry is still largely controlled by white men, black filmmakers and producers are carving out a niche for themselves, Napolean said.”