A Comment That Will Stay With Me (versión en español sometido antes abajo)

Wow, it’s been over year since I last wrote a blog entry. Time flies when you’re busy living life and reflecting on your work! Nonetheless, I wanted to write a quick note to check in with everyone. After reworking and allowing the storyline to mature, this project has come full circle. I am very proud of the solid, unique film that it has become. 

This past Friday, October 21, 2011, at the NYU Department of Social & Cultural Analysis, I was invited to screen a brand new sample of SAYA that reflects the revised direction that I’m taking with it. It was very reinvigorating to see it on screen and to get some wonderful reactions from the public.

One comment that stayed with me from the night was from a film student headed to Chicago. He said to me that he has never seen a film showing the resiliency of Afro-Descendants, that the media always portrays them like victims of injustice and/or poverty. He felt that my film portrayed Black people with strength and dignity, and it really meant a lot to me to hear him say that. (Thank you!)

Perspective has always been on my mind since I started this project. Although I have always had a distinctive point of view as an Artist, for most of these years working on SAYA, I was really concerned with trying to mold this story into something that is more familiar for the audience. I was caught up trying to fit a round peg into a square hole, but thankfully I will no longer be doing that.

WE OF THE SAYA is about showing the strength and resilience of a people who are determined to change their own destiny. It is a unique film, being made by a filmmaker who’s choosing not to make something that is common, but something with a distinctive perspective on how media can approach communities of color.