“And with this movie, there is a lot of collaboration, which is my favorite part of the process,” she added. And I think there is a hunger and demand for African American stories. She was fierce, powerful and tiny.” Lemmons said. It tells more of Harriett’s story than the image we usually have of her. “It is my kind of application of African American history. She is now in the editing phase of her latest movie project, “Harriet,” the story of Harriet Tubman, famed African American woman and abolitionist, who led hundreds of people to freedom. There weren’t a lot of black women in the industry, and in some ways, I think it helped me,” she said. “When I first started directing, I was rare. In the early days of Lemmons’ career, she said that as a black woman, she was the exception, but that often made her more interesting because she was unique. “But all of my films and projects mean something to me,” she said. “There have been times when I fall into a malaise if I don’t write. “I am a filmmaker first, but in many ways I think of myself as a writer,” she said. She approaches all of these things in a different way, but they all center on the character or characters and the connection she feels. She’s still open to acting, if it’s a role she really likes, she writes screenplays (all the time), she directs, she produces, she adapts various material. Some of her most notable acting gigs were in films like “Silence of the Lambs,” “School Daze,” directed by Spike Lee, and horror film, “Candyman.” In 2013, she adapted and directed “Black Nativity,” starring Academy Award winners Forest Whitaker and Jennifer Hundson, and Academy Award nominee Angela Bassett. Jackson, had positive reviews, and Lemmons received a number of awards, including the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature.įollowing “Eve’s Bayou,” she directed “The Caveman’s Valentine,” also with Jackson, and “Talk to Me” with Don Cheadle. The resulting production, starring Samuel L. “I thought, ‘I don’t want it to be interpreted differently. Her directing debut came in 1997 with “Eve’s Bayou.” After writing the script, she started looking for a director to take it to the screen. She took some acting classes, later went to film school in New York, and she said everything in her working life has happened organically.īeginning as an actress – and a writer – she made her way behind the camera after realizing that directing was a way of bringing those two passions together. Louis, but her family moved to the Boston area when she was 8. “And an opera is a little freer flowing than a movie.” “The challenge of figuring out how to draw out the dramatic effect was fun,” she said. Sure, there were challenges, but definite similarities to a screenplay. Though this is her first libretto, she’s played around with the form on her own and used to like to read operas as a teenager. “He is an extremely compelling and moving character, and definitely in my wheelhouse of interests. “This boy, the protagonist, is misunderstood, and he’s vulnerable,” Lemmons said. Luckily, it was just the kind of character that gets her excited. The book of the same name was written by New York Times columnist Charles Blow, and Lemmons’ mission was to adapt it for the libretto. Music for the opera is by Grammy winner Terence Blanchard, who Lemmons has worked with several times before. Most recently, she took on the libretto of “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” that premiered June 15 at Opera Theatre St. Kasi Lemmons has been a driving force in the film industry for many years.
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