- 1 week ago
40 Year Old Version Interview with Danielle Young
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Welcome, everybody. I'm Danielle Young, journalist, content creator, and Blue Ivy's best friend.
00:12So excited to be here at Essence Festival because we are here with Radha Blank. If you guys don't
00:18know, she is a director, a writer, an actress, and just an all-around dope human. So her film,
00:24a 40-year-old version, it's hit its directorial debut, and it's all wrapped up in all kinds of
00:34Black woman history-making realness. Radha is the second, it took me a second to reel this in for
00:42myself, but Radha is only the second Black woman director to win at Sundance. In the words of
00:50Beyonce, ain't that about it? But it's still good because guess what? Radha was not only,
00:59she was not the only Black woman within this competition at Sundance, which is also
01:04history-making and a beautiful thing to see other Black women filmmakers be able to compete at such a
01:10high-profile film competition. So I'm so proud of you, Radha, for that.
01:16Oh, thank you so much. So it's a big deal. It is a big deal, and we're definitely going to talk a lot
01:22about that, okay? We're going to try to make it happen. We're going to try to make it happen in this
01:2815 minutes. Yeah. But this film, the 40-year-old version, Radha plays Radha, the lead character, but she's
01:36also the director, the filmmaker. So let's dig into this a little bit, Radha. How about her? Tell me
01:46how you found your voice as a director, and especially as a film that feels so personally
01:53connected to also you as an artist? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, here's the thing is,
02:00I hope to have a long-storied career as an auteur, but I knew in telling the story,
02:08I couldn't play 39 forever. Yes, I moisturized, and so, you know, maybe one other 10 years, but
02:14I knew that there was something about making this my first film. Just strategically, you know,
02:20you put a name with a face, and that familiarity might create opportunities to make a second film.
02:26But really, it's like, though I've never directed before, I feel like everything else I've done in
02:33my life as an artist prepared me for this. I was a stand-up comic for many years. I was a public
02:39school teacher for many years, and working a lot of times with non-professional actors, young people
02:46who wanted to tell a story. And so I feel like that was my training ground, and now was the time. It was
02:53quite a journey to get here, a lot of no's. And the person who said the biggest and most important
03:00yes to me was Lena Waithe. And so it kind of just affirmed for me how important it is to
03:07gain the support of another Black woman. And, you know, her trusting me with my own vision
03:14was a big deal. But yeah, it's been quite a journey, and I'm just so happy to finally get to share
03:22the story that I wrote and created with us in mind as Black women, where we're centered,
03:29and we're complex. And yeah, it's a big deal.
03:33Well, I love it is a big deal, Radha. Congratulations, because, you know,
03:38It's all shiny and beautiful when you see, oh, Radha Blank, she wins Sundance,
03:42history making. It's amazing. But there's so much work that goes behind that, to your point. And then
03:47there's also so much work that goes on beyond that, after you have had the historic win,
03:52and then you become the filmmaker that everybody gets to have their eye on, and then now what,
03:57right? So I want to talk about your art as Black as it is, as unapologetic as it is,
04:05as Black and white as it is, this particular thing.
04:09Can you talk a little bit about, because the time that we find ourselves in right now
04:14is chaotic, but we're seeing a lot of things come because of it. And one of those things is
04:24the all of a sudden realization of the importance of Black lives, Blackness, Black culture.
04:32You know, it's a beautiful thing to watch, but it's also starting to feel a little like
04:38Blackness as a trend, almost. I know that Radha, the character, deals with a lot of that within
04:46this film, especially being a creator and wanting to get her Black art out. So as the creator,
04:53but also as the creation, how does that feel for you to dwell within this space of Blackness that
04:59feels like it's being looked at almost as like it's a trend right now?
05:04Yeah, I mean, for better or for worse, there's so much focus on us right now. And I think as a
05:11person making art, I was conflicted about that because I'm just like, how am I showing up for us?
05:16You know, like, I think filmmaking and storytelling is my activism. You see me confront
05:23white gatekeepers in the film. But I hope that beyond this, you know, being a story where Black
05:32women's centered, you just see this artist on this journey, because we go through that too,
05:38you know, and I hope it's an expansion on Black life in that, you know, like, I'm obsessed with
05:43things like mundanity. I'm obsessed with things like silence. I'm obsessed with things that show us
05:51in ways we aren't often depicted, you know, like, I think a lot of times when people get behind Black
06:00storytelling, they think conflict equals drama. And so there's a certain kind of Black experience
06:08that gets heralded. And this to me is about putting a Black story in the context and the canon of
06:17classic New York films, where people like Spike and Woody are just these, you know, kind of people
06:23fumbling through life. And this isn't about a Black woman who has her two hands on her hips,
06:28and is all knowing she's just like, approaching 40 and still hasn't figured it out. And how does that
06:36contribute to this rounder, you know, presentation of who we are and who we can be? It is a comedy.
06:45It does sometimes well in a dramatic space. But really, it's just that typical New York
06:55creative, self-deprecating artist story, just with us at the center, you know, so I'm not,
07:03I'm not creating anything new. I think that the lens is different. But I feel like this film,
07:09the story is familiar to anyone who knows about those New York creative stories, the story is
07:15familiar. It's just about inserting us in a canon of films. I mean, there's a reason why it's shot in
07:20Black and White. It's like, to retrofit the story into a, in a style and in a way, you know, a story
07:30that you've been told maybe 30 years ago. And also, to speak to, like, you know, this hip-hop element to
07:39the story. And a lot of times, the hip-hop culture is presented through a very oversaturated,
07:44over-sexualized, where shooting in Black and White cools everything down to a certain level of
07:50sophistication and vulnerability, where we're not always seen in that way. And so, you know, I guess it is,
07:58again, my version of activism. At the end of the day, it's, it's another artist's story, really.
08:04Right. And it feels that way. I love the honest-to-goodness vibe of the, the lead character
08:13yourself, Radov, being this 40-year-old woman dreaming and looking for something that's inside
08:20herself to, to place herself on, to place her bet on herself on. And it's really dope to watch that.
08:27And I know that we have a clip. So I hope that we, uh, yes. So let's play that amazing clip that we
08:33have. That's called Poverty Porn. Let's get into it.
08:38I just want to be an artist.
08:44Mommy, please. Mommy, please tell me what to do.
08:49Girl, don't play. Bitch, let's bathe. Bring that ass here. Let me pound and pound kicks. I say, girl, don't play. Bitch, let's bathe. Bring it ass here. Let me pound and pound kicks. Yeah.
09:07Yo, where my period at? Oh shit, there it go. Right next to belly bloating and this spotty flow. Yo, where my damn house keys?
09:25Why my lower legs hurt?
09:28Side Attica lock legs like Attica World. Yo, why my ass always horny?
09:32Why I always gotta pee?
09:34Why the young boy on the bus offer his seat to me?
09:37Why my skin so dry?
09:39Why am I yawning right now?
09:41Why them AARP niggas sending shit to my house?
09:44So, Rada.
09:47Yeah.
09:47We got to see a little bit of one version of herself that Rada gets to be at this age. Can you talk a little bit about this clip that we just saw?
10:00Well, I think, you know, this is a woman who, you know, the idea of somebody wanting to return to hip hop at 39, 40 years old.
10:10I think people's impulse may be to laugh. And I think that this clip kind of shows like she does have the goods. She did have them at one time, which kind of speaks to like this idea that you don't age out of your passion.
10:24And, you know, women of a certain age are just expected to have a certain, get to a certain place in their life. That they know who they are. They are exploring things that feel, you know, aligned with a certain age.
10:41And I think the clip is pushing at that, saying like, maybe people are waiting for her to mess up, but the clip kind of affirms that like, yo, she could spit. You know what I'm saying? She never lost that.
10:56And it becomes a pivotal moment in the relationship between these two characters. This man now seeing her in a different way. She's not just a yo lady. Now it's like, who is this person?
11:08Um, which speaks to just like, us having different kinds of beauty. You know, I think before this moment, maybe he did not see her. She was just anybody else looking for some beats. And this is a pivotal moment in their relationship. Yeah.
11:22Well, listen, Radha, I love it so much. I love the relationship between the two of them. I love Radha, you and your character.
11:29Um, yeah, one of the reasons that I, that I love and I'm endeared towards her is she's a dreamer, but she's not packaged in the typical dreamer package. You know, like sometimes we might think, especially for black women dreaming ages out at a certain time or black women aren't really given the, um, the space to do so because we are, are thinking that we need safety nets.
11:55We need stuff that, that is practical. So as we wrap up this amazing panel to talk about the 40 year old version, I'd love to know what dreaming means to you.
12:07And now that you have accomplished a dream of being able to create as a filmmaker, what does remixing the dream look like for you after having hit it?
12:18Wow. That's a great question. I think dreaming just means remaining open to what's possible in your life, whether it's a new love or reloading, relocating to a new city, picking up a new passion.
12:32It's just not limiting yourself in terms of what's possible. I mean, I created my first film in my forties. Um, you know, like I think our business is often obsessed with youth and women of a certain age are overlooked and kind of dismissed and put out to pasture.
12:47And I'm, I'm hoping that this, um, when I perform as Rodhamus Prime, um, often, you know, just, I'm always so thrilled by how embraced I am by women of a certain age in the audience.
13:00You know, they'll tell me things like, wow, this gave me, you know, the little push I needed to go get another degree or to take on another lover.
13:09You know what I'm saying? Um, and so I think the idea, Hey, Hey, cause I'm a fan of that ladies, let's do it 2020. Um, I think it, you know, I'm all about encouraging that idea.
13:23And the thing, I love this question about remixing the dream is now that the film is done, I, I, I can't say, Oh, I wish I can't wait to become a director because now I am officially.
13:37And so what does it mean to walk through the world having achieved something like that? I mean, I stand differently. I talk different, you know, because I did not only the hardest thing I could have ever done, but I think I kind of engaged in what I feel is the most radical act of, of self care and self love.
13:56And in a world that we're living in now, like self love is a revolution when so many people devalue our lives and our stories for us to stand up and say, in spite of all of these no's and people saying, why you, you choosing yourself and putting yourself out there and then seeing what's possible.
14:16So like, just the idea that I've actually begun a career as a filmmaker in my 40s, I think says a lot about what's possible in terms of remixing dreams. And we just have to remain open. Um, we have to stay human. We have to celebrate each other. We have to, as black women continue to stand by each other. I don't know that I would have made this film if it wasn't Felina trusting me with my own vision.
14:41So my hashtag for 2020 is not just F Corona. It is hashtag trust black women and hashtag continue to trust black women because again, it was six years of no and Felina, it was the easiest. Yes, she could have given. So I'm hoping that, you know, also when people see the behind the scenes shots of all the women, all the queer folks, all the people of color, all the feminist men working on this film, that they'll be
15:11invigorated, um, invigorated about what's possible, you know, since, since the, since Spike started it to where we are now. Um, just really pushing the envelope around taking ownership of our stories.
15:25Right. Got it. Amazing. Thank you for sharing that.
15:29Thank you. I'm so glad we got a chance to have our conversation.
15:32You know, I'm such a fan of you.
15:34Danielle Young, I'm such a fan.
15:37You better stop right up, Link. I'm a fan of you.
15:41I am so in awe of everything you've been able to do and how you remix the dream at all times.
15:48And I'm so, so thrilled to see this happen for you.
15:51I'm excited to see the world get a chance to hold on to this film because y'all I'm not just, I'm not gassing it because I'm partial and I love her.
16:00She's brilliant. And the film is brilliant.
16:02Fall in love.
16:03It comes out in the fall on Netflix. Thank you to my Netflix family for getting behind me.
16:08And I can't wait to share this with all my sisters out there.
16:11I'm excited for you, Radha. Congratulations to you.
16:14Our history making Sundance Black woman director. Congratulations.
16:21And also thank you, like Radha said, to Netflix. Thank you to Essence. Thank you to Essence Festival.
16:27I'm your girl, Danielle Young. Thank you for watching.
16:30I'm Radha Blank. Thank you.
16:32I'm your girl, Danielle Young. Thank you.
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