Amma Asante
The “Belle” Interview
with Kam Williams
Amma’s Good Karma
Writer/director Amma Asante made
an unusual entry into filmmaking. As a child, she attended the Barbara Speake
stage school in London, where
she trained as a student in dance and drama.
She began a television career as
a child actress, appearing as a regular in the popular British school drama “Grange Hill.” She fronted the ‘Just
Say No” campaign of the 1980s and was one of nine “Grange Hill” children to take it to the Reagan White
House. Amma went on to gain credits in other British television series
including “Desmond's” and “Birds of a Feather,” and was a
Children's Channel presenter for a year.
In her late teens, Amma left the
world of acting and made the move to screenwriting with a development deal from
Chrysalis. Two series of the urban drama “Brothers and Sisters” followed which she wrote and produced for the
BBC.
Amma’s made her feature film directorial
debut in 2004 with A Way
of Life which won her 17 international awards including The BFI London Film
Festival's inaugural Alfred Dunhill UK Film Talent Award, created to
recognize the achievements of a new or emerging British writer/director who has
shown great skill and imagination in bringing originality and verve to
filmmaking. Additionally Asante
collected The Times ‘Breakthrough Artist of the Year’ at the prestigious South
Bank Show Awards for writing and directing the film.
At the BAFTA Film Awards in
February 2005, Asante
received the BAFTA Carl Foreman Award for Special Achievement by a
Writer/Director in a Debut Film. On the same night, she scored a double triumph
at the 2005 Miami International Film Festival, winning the award for ‘Best
Dramatic Feature in World Cinema’ and the FIPRESCI (International Federation of
Film Critics) prize for ‘Best Feature Film.’
Amma was born in London in 1969 and is married to Soren Kragh
Pedersen, the Europol Chief of Media and Public Relations. Here, she talks
about her new film, Belle, a fact-based, historical drama starring Gugu
Mbatha-Raw about the daughter of an African slave and a British ship captain
who was raised in England
as an aristocrat.
Kam
Williams: Hi Amma. I’m honored to have this
opportunity.
Amma Asante: Thank
you very much, Kam. It’s my pleasure.
KW:
I told my readers I’d be speaking with you, so I’ll be mixing in their
questions with some of my own.
AA:
Okay, cool.
KW:
Children’s book author Irene Smalls asks: Where did you find
this story and what motivated you to turn it into a movie?
AA:
Well, the story comes from the painting that emerges at the
end of the film.
[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dido_Elizabeth_Belle.jpg
] My producer [Damian Jones] sent me a postcard of the picture. I knew
immediately that this was an unusual painting and that there was something very
special about it, because I had recently been to an art exhibition in Amsterdam that was
looking at the history of people of color in art from the 14th
Century. What I learned from the show, without knowing that this postcard was
ever going to fall into my lap, was that people of color were generally used as
accessories in paintings. We were there to express the status of the main
subject of the canvas. We’d always be positioned lower than and looking up in
awe at the protagonist and never looking out at the painter. But in this
postcard, everything was the opposite. There was Dido Belle staring out at the
painter, positioned slightly higher than Elizabeth [her white cousin] whose arm
was reaching out to Dido, and thereby drawing your eyes towards Dido. So, I saw
an opportunity to create a story that would be a combination of race, politics,
art and history. And it went from there, with lots and lots of research.
KW:
I don’t agree with the assumption of Irene’s next question.
Why did you focus on the love story instead of the historical significance?
AA:
I disagree with her as well. I think the historical
significance was to bring the two people in the love story together. What I
tried to do was to use the legal case of the Zong Massacre and the painting
itself as tools to explore Dido Elizabeth Belle’s journey. They feed into her
being able to find her voice and into her coming to a place where she
experiences self-love. So, I would say that that’s at the center of the film,
the love story between Dido and herself. Everything else kind of sits around
that idea of a young woman coming into her own.
KW:
Irene was also wondering whether
there might be a sequel in the works.
AA: [Chuckles] No, there isn’t. I
feel like this painting fell into my lap because this story needed to be told
by me. I believe I was blessed to have the opportunity to be able put this
story together and bring it to the screen. But I feel that my role is completed
now, and I’d have to leave a sequel to someone else.
KW:
Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier says: I was very impressed that this elaborate costume
drama/historical biopic was just your second feature film.
AA:
Thank you, Patricia. I knew that I wanted my second film to
be big and lush and important, and that I wanted it to make a statement. That’s
why it took those eight years to get from my first to my second feature. I
always knew I had it in me. I just had to persuade the financiers as well. I
think feature films are about the confidence you have in bringing your vision
to fruition.
KW:
When I interviewed Gugu, she gave me the idea that you
definitely had a vision of what you were trying to achieve, and also that she
felt very comfortable in your hands.
AA:
Oh, that’s nice of her to say. It was important to me for
the cast to feel safe in my hands. I was very open to collaborating with them,
but they also knew that I had a very, very strong vision for this story that I
wanted to tell.
KW:
She goes on to say: Given that I speak French, I am curious to know where the
French last name of Dido Elizabeth Belle comes from?
AA:
Dido was born to a West African woman who was sold into
slavery. I named the film Belle to honor both Dido and her mother, Maria. But
we don’t know how she came to have the surname Belle.
KW:
Patricia says: I saw the movie
in Quebec
in English but I hope the movie will be translated soon into French and other
languages to allow the Francophony and other cultures to discover it.
AA: Absolutely!
The film has been translated ad is being released in France in a few months’ time.
KW:
Patricia also asks: Why do you think that the story of Belle remained
unknown, despite the painting of her?
AA: That’s
a very interesting question. I’m 44 years-old now, and I grew up not knowing
anything about it. But young girls and boys in England today are being taught
about Dido Belle. You can read about elements of her life in various books that
have been published. What there wasn’t until our film was the quintessential
story that pieced together Dido’s life. Since the film does contain some
elements of fiction, Damian and I decided to commission Paula Byrne to write an
absolutely historically-accurate version of Dido’s life in book form, also called
“Belle.” http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0062310771/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20
KW:
Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: How do you feel about the
compliment that “The movie Belle has a woman’s touch and is a woman’s movie.”
AA:
I like that compliment! And I thank whoever gave it. What I
wanted to do was put a woman of color, front and center, in this movie
combining a lot of themes that were relevant to both men and women. I actively
wanted her to carry the weight of this movie because I’m a woman. And I
actively wanted to explore many of the issues that affected her as a woman of
color. That was very important to me. And although these issues affect some
women of color, I don’t think they’re only of interest to women of color.
They’re of universal interest. In addition, I’m a girl, and I celebrate being a
girl, and it was really important to me to celebrate the beauty that I could
create in a movie like this, aesthetically, in terms of the costumes and the
production design. I wanted something big and lush and beautiful and unashamedly
feminine. So, I take that as a big compliment, Harriet.
KW:
The Uduak Oduok question: Who is your favorite clothes designer?
AA:
Oh my God! You’d be forcing me to really nail my flag to the
mast. But I have a few. Chanel! I love and adore Chanel. I’m a huge Christian
Dior fan. And I’m also a huge Yves St. Laurent fan.
KW:
Three classics!
AA:
I’m just a classic gal!
KW:
Editor Lisa Loving asks: What is your take on the
blossoming genre of films about the African Diaspora during the Trans Atlantic
Slave Trade? Do you expect to see more films about this aspect of history made?
AA:
I think we will because, every so many years, a filmmaker
returns to the subject. Interestingly, I also sense that a wider feed is coming
through in these stories. I cried watching The Butler, because I understood
that with all these wonderful films like Mandela, 12 Years a Slave and Half of
a Yellow Sun that a beautiful tapestry of our history was in the process of
being woven all over the world. I found that very inspiring and started to weep
because I realized that Belle would be a part of that tapestry. What I hope is
that this wider pattern that’s emerging isn’t just a fad but evidence that
we’ve turned a corner as filmmakers of color and that we’re moving forward in our
confidence and in the film industry not being afraid of our telling these
stories and in giving us the opportunity to bring our vision to the screen.
KW:
Lisa also asks: Did you find Tarantino’s Django
Unchained gratuitously violent?
AA:
I don’t think it’s for me to comment on how other directors
choose to bring their visions to fruition. You can watch Belle to see what I
think my film needed to communicate its message about slavery. For me, I found
it unnecessary to show any great violence. However, Quentin Tarantino did find
it necessary for his film, and I have to respect his decision as one filmmaker
respecting another. I’ll leave it at that.
KW:
The Harriet Pakula-Teweles question: With so many classic films being redone,
is there a remake you'd like to direct?
AA:
Well, there is. And I just bought the rights to the project
two days ago. It’s a remake of a fabulous French film. I can’t give it away,
but stay tuned.
KW:
The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest
childhood memory?
AA:
My earliest childhood memory I actually injected into Belle.
It’s of me sitting on my dad’s lap. I remember him saying to me, “You don’t
understand what I’m saying to you right now, but know that you are loved.”
That’s where that line comes from in the movie where Dido’s biological father
leans down to say the same thing to her. Belle is also dedicated to my father
who died unexpectedly during the making of the film. It’s a movie that means a
lot to me because I made it not only for little girls around the world who grew
up to see themselves reflected in a film like this, but also for my father
because it was the kind of picture he would love, even if his daughter had
nothing to do with it. So, my earliest memory of him is in the movie.
KW: My condolences, Amma. Is it true
that your father was an accountant, your mother was a housekeeper, and that they
also opened a deli?
AA:
Yes, that’s correct. After my parents arrived in England, it
took them a decade to get a foothold. It meant that they had to work non-stop.
My mother would do two cleaning jobs in the morning before opening her deli,
and then do two more cleaning jobs in the evening. Her whole day, from 4:30 AM
until 9 PM was spent working, as was my father’s, between the office and the
shop.
KW: You became a TV star as a
teenager. How did you avoid the problems that destroy the lives of so many
child actors?
AA:
Again, I would honestly have to credit my parents, Kwame and
Comfort, who ensured that my feet as well as my siblings stayed firmly on the
ground. So, I was very well-rooted. I also learned the value of money from a
very young age. I thank God for that.
KW:
What is your favorite dish to cook?
AA:
Jollof rice, a very popular Ghanain dish I learned from my
mother. It’s a mixture of rice and vegetables that you can make with either
chicken or beef. It’s great because it was designed to give a child or an adult
all the nutrients they need in one dish. And it is my absolute favorite!
KW: When you look in the mirror, what
do you see?
AA:
I see the woman I knew I wanted to be as a child. When I was
a young girl, I had a vision of the woman I wanted to be. And I often reached
out to women of color in America
for inspiration. My mother would regularly buy Essence and Ebony. I would look
at those magazines filled with images of professional, intelligent women of
color who knew who they were, who enjoyed who they were, and who were
surrounded by other people who enjoyed who they were. When I look in the
mirror, I’m really glad that that’s what I see today, but it took awhile to get
here.
KW:
Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?
AA:
I would have to say “No.” But before Belle, I would have
answered “Yes.” The great thing about this movie is that I’ve put so much of
myself on the table, and put so much of my guts into the movie that I’ve really
worn my heart on my sleeve, and everybody has really gotten access to my heart
and my head. Many of the questions from your readers have been great. But I
would like to turn the question around and ask you: Is there any question you
have for me that you might be too shy to ask?
KW:
Funny you should ask. I do have a few I’d decided against.
Here’s one: Would you mind saying something controversial that would get this
interview tweeted?
AA:
[LOL] Yes, I would mind.
KW:
Another one I was planning to pass on was the Sanaa Lathan
question: What excites you?
AA:
I really can answer that one. Sitting in the back row of a
full audience watching one of my movies, and hearing them cry and hearing them
laugh in the right moments, particularly when they laugh at a line I’ve stolen
from one of my family members and put in the film. That excites me a great
deal. And that’s an honest answer.
KW:
I also hesitated to ask you the Melissa Harris-Perry question: How did your first big heartbreak
impact who you are as a person?
AA:
My first big heartbreak has made me an irrepressible
romantic. I was lucky enough to date my first love for five years. We had a
very romantic, very dramatic teenage love affair. And it has impacted me
because I have married a man who is simply the grownup version of my first
love. So, I believe my first love was just preparing me for the man I’m married
to today. And it has also impacted the way I write, because there will always
be a love story in every movie I write. Always! I think having a positive first
love experience before the heartbreak made me a more confident in who I am, a
more confident female today. That might be controversial.
KW:
If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would
that be for?
AA:
A child. I’ve been trying for a child with my husband for a
long time, for over eight years. And if I could have one wish instantly
granted, it would be to be pregnant with a healthy baby.
KW:
I know his name is Soren. What type of name is that?
Swedish?
AA:
Close. He’s Danish.
KW:
The Kerry Washington question: If you were an animal, what
animal would you be?
AA:
A panther! Dangerous and beautiful.
KW:
The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe
all successful people share?
AA:
The ability to inspire, to transfer our passion to other
people and to bring them along with us in pursuit of our vision. I have to be
able to inspire investors, actors and crews on a daily basis. What I recognize
in other successful people is a similar ability to make their passion
infectious.
KW:
Thanks again for the time, Amma, and best of luck with Belle.
AA:
Thank you, Kam. It’s been great to talk to you.
