‘Guerrilla’ maker defends film

John Ridley said he expected his “politically sharp” TV miniseries Guerrilla, about England’s 1970s black power movement, to be provocative.

But criticism that the drama excludes the role played by black female activists took him by surprise at a screening in London, he said on Monday.

He pointed to his track record of writing for black actresses in projects including TV’s American Crime (Regina King) and 12 Years a Slave (Lupita Nyong’o, Quvenzhane Wallis), among others.

Given that, he said, it was odd to hear that people “feel as though I’m not putting enough women of colour in spaces.”

“I would say very sincerely to anybody, if they find fault with what I’m doing or how I’m doing it, you don’t need to wait for me to tell your stories,” Ridley said. “You don’t need anybody’s permission to go out and tell the story you want to tell.”

At last week’s screening, Ridley was questioned by some audience members about the project’s approach. Guerrilla, debuting April 16 on Showtime, stars Indian actress Freida Pinto and black British actor Babou Ceesay as an activist couple. —AP