Cucalorus Week Part 2

So! I have a lot to say about Cucalorus, both in what I learned and what I observed. The week started out on a very rocky foot with Dancealorus and some incidents of racism and sexism that I experienced as a filmmaker. Most of the sexism and racism came from a few filmmakers in the filmmaker’s lounge, who were very condescending and loudly spoke against feminism. Dancealorus was also a bit problematic, themes of race and immigration prevalent throughout but not portrayed in a constructive way. There was a lot of culture appropriation, black face, and very insensitive political statements made.

The positive to my first night? It reminded me of how the industry is and what my role as a woman of color in it is in letting my voice be heard in order to remedy this. I learned quickly that I needed to change the way I postured myself, dressed, and walked in order to get more recognition and respect. I needed more confidence in myself, and once I started going to events in makeup with my hair properly brushed, I noticed a change in the way I was approached. I needed to go from eager student to that of an established filmmaker, because, well, I technically am one! 

As for the Dancealorus mishap, I found other students who felt the same way, and we sat down to write a letter to point out a few things that could have been avoided. We also spoke to Dan Brawley in a respectful way, and I’m pretty excited and surprised to see that he took us very seriously. I completed my goal of introducing myself to several filmmakers and I think I did a good job networking. I attended Visual Sound Walls, the Oyster Party, and the VR demo room. My short that was screened this year was “6/2/16”, an experimental stream of conscious essay film about looking back at memories. It played on November 11th at 1am before the feature film “She’s Got A Plan”. I was able to meet the co-directors for “She’s Got A Plan”, Fatima Washington and Corey Johnson. I got their contact information which was great! They gave me a hug at the end of my Q&A panel and told me that they were proud to see a young black filmmaker doing stuff. I almost cried because they were so genuine.

I didn't get too many questions about my film during the Q&A since the focus was on the feature, but people seemed to really like the nostalgia aspect of my film. I got asked about my experiences as a woman filmmaker and a lot of questions about my age. I was even asked for what advice I would give to other emerging filmmakers, a question I didn't feel like I could really answer, but I tried my best and said to just make stuff happen. In terms of age, it doesn't matter when you start, you just need to make films and be willing to learn about yourself in the process. Through this, I myself learned to admit that sometimes I don't know the answers to questions, but it doesn't hurt to admit that.

I also checked out three sections of the Convulsions series and the Urban Vapor Shorts to name a few. My favorite feature of the festival was “Tragedy Girls” while my favorite short was “The Mixtape: Stay Black, Baby!”. The latter was great to watch because of how pro-black it was and intersectional when it came to outlining the black community. I'm adding it to my influence map of shorts that I want KYG to look like because I liked the anthology structure of it. Next year, hopefully as a filmmaker, I'll be a little more prepared with a stronger film to present. Don't take me the wrong way, "6/2/16" is a favorite of mine so far, and one of my most personal and serious films, but I would like to be able to present a film that is much longer with more work into it. I want to make a feature film my goal for next time!