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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,
00:25her film, the 40-year-old version, it's hit its directorial debut, and it's all wrapped up in
00:34all kinds of Black woman history-making realness. Radha is the second, it took me a second to reel
00:42this in for myself, but Radha is only the second Black woman director to win at Sundance. In the
00:49words of Beyonce, ain't that bad up? But it's still good because guess what? Radha was not
00:59only, she 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
01:10a high-profile film competition. So I'm so proud of you, Radha, for that.
01:16Oh, thank you so much. It is 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
01:27this 15 minute. Yeah. But this film, the 40-year-old version, Radha plays Radha, the lead character,
01:35but she's also the director, the filmmaker. So let's dig into this a little bit, Radha.
01:43How about her? Tell me how you found your voice as a director, and especially as a film that feels
01:52so personally connected to also you as an artist. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, here's the thing is I hope to
02:01have a long-storied career as an auteur, but I knew in telling the story, I couldn't play 39 forever.
02:09Yes, I moisturized, and so, you know, maybe one other 10 years, but I knew that there was something
02:16about making this my first film. Just strategically, you know, you put a name with a face, and that
02:23familiarity might create opportunities to make a second film. But really, it's like I, though I've
02:29never directed before, I feel like everything else I've done in my life as an artist prepared me for
02:35this. I was a stand-up comic for many years. I was a public school teacher for many years, and
02:41working a lot of times with non-professional actors, young people who wanted to tell story.
02:48And so I feel like that was my training ground, and now was the time. It was quite a journey to get
02:55here, a lot of no's. And the person who said the biggest and most important yes to me was Lena Waithe.
03:02And so it kind of just affirmed for me how important it is to gain the support of another
03:10Black woman. And, you know, her trusting me with my own vision was a big deal. But yeah, it's been
03:18quite a journey, and I'm just so happy to finally get to share this story that I wrote and created
03:26with us in mind as Black women, where we're centered, and 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, history making. It's amazing.
03:44But there's so much work that goes behind that, to your point. And then there's also so much work
03:48that goes on beyond that, after you have had the historic win, and then you become the filmmaker
03:54that everybody gets to have their eye on, and then now what, right? So I want to talk about
04:00your art as Black as it is, as unapologetic as it is, as Black and white as it is, this particular
04:09thing. Can 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
04:24is the all of a sudden realization of the importance of Black lives, Blackness, Black culture.
04:34You 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, but
04:53also as the creation, how does that feel for you to dwell within this space of Blackness that feels
05:00like it's being looked at almost as like it's a trend right now?
05:03Yeah, 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
05:16us? You 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
05:44things 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,
06:29and 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, I'm not creating
07:04anything new. I think that the lens is different. But I feel like this film, the story is familiar to anyone
07:12who knows about those New York creative stories, the story is familiar. It's just about inserting us in a
07:18canon of film. I mean, there's a reason why it's shot in Black and white. It's like, to retrofit the story
07:23into a, in a style, and in a way, you know, a story that you've been told maybe 30 years ago.
07:33And also, to speak to, like, you know, this hip-hop element to the story. And a lot of times, the hip-hop
07:41culture is presented through a very oversaturated, over-sexualized, where shooting in Black and white
07:47cools everything down to a certain level of sophistication and vulnerability, where we're not always
07:55seen in that way. And so, you know, I guess it is, again, my version of activism. At the end of the day,
08:02it's, it's another artist's story, really. Right. And it feels that way. I love the
08:08honest-to-goodness vibe of the, the lead character yourself, Radov, being this 40-year-old woman
08:16dreaming and looking for something that's inside herself to, to place herself on, to place her bet
08:23on herself on. And it's really dope to watch that. And I know that we have a clip. So I hope that we,
08:30uh, yes. So let's play that amazing clip that we have. That's called Poverty Porn. Let's get into it.
08:38I just want to be an artist.
08:39Oh, mommy, please. Mommy, please tell me what to do.
08:56Girl, don't flake. Bitch, let's bake. Bring that ass here. Let me pound a pound kiss. I said, girl, don't flake. Bitch, let's bake. Bring it ass here. Let me pound a pound kiss.
09:09Yo, where my period at? Oh, shit. There we go. Right next to belly bloating in this spotty flow.
09:24Yo, where my damn house keys? Why my lower legs hurt? Sciatica lock legs like Attica World. Yo, why my ass always horny?
09:32Why I always gotta pee? Why the young boy on the bus offer his seat to me? Why my skin so dry?
09:39Why am I yawning right now? Why them AARP niggas sending shit to my house?
09:44So, Radha.
09:47Yeah.
09:48We got to see a little bit of one version of herself that Radha gets to be at this age.
09:56Can you talk a little bit about this clip that we just saw?
09:59Well, 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, I think people's impulse may be to laugh.
10:13And I think that this clip kind of shows like she does have the goods that 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.
10:35They 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.
10:49But the clip kind of affirms that, like, yo, she got spit.
10:53You know what I'm saying?
10:54She never lost that.
10:56And it becomes a pivotal moment in the relationship between these two characters.
11:02This man now seeing her in a different way.
11:05She's not just a, yo, lady.
11:06Now it's like, who is this person?
11:09Which speaks to just, like, us having different kinds of beauty.
11:14You know, I think before this moment, maybe he did not see her.
11:16She was just anybody else looking for some beats.
11:18And this is a pivotal moment in their relationship.
11:22Yeah.
11:22Well, listen, Radha, I love it so much.
11:25I love the relationship between the two of them.
11:27I love Radha, you, and your character.
11:31Yeah, one of the reasons that I love and I'm endeared towards her is she's a dreamer.
11:37But she's not packaged in the typical dreamer package.
11:40You know, like, sometimes we might think, especially for Black women, dreaming ages out at a certain time.
11:46Or Black women aren't really given the space to do so because we are thinking that we need safety nets.
11:55We need stuff that is practical.
11:58So, 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?
12:17Wow, that's a great question.
12:20I think dreaming just means remaining open to what's possible in your life, whether it's a new love or relocating to a new city, picking up a new passion.
12:32It's just not limiting yourself in terms of what's possible.
12:35I mean, I created my first film in my 40s.
12:39You 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.
12:48And I'm hoping that this, when I perform as Rodhamus Prime, I'm 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, you know what I'm saying?
13:10And so I think the idea, hey, hey, because I'm a fan of that, ladies, let's do it, 2020.
13:19I 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 can't say, oh, I wish, I can't wait to become a director because now I am officially.
13:38And so what does it mean to walk through the world having achieved something like that?
13:42I mean, I stand differently.
13:44I talk different, you know, because I did not only the hardest thing I could have ever done,
13:50but I think I've kind of engaged in what I feel is the most radical act of self-care and self-love.
13:56And in a world that we're living in now, like, self-love is a revolution.
14:01When 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?
14:11You choosing yourself and putting yourself out there and then seeing what's possible, 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.
14:26We just have to remain open.
14:27We have to stay human.
14:31We have to celebrate each other.
14:33We have to, as Black women, continue to stand by each other.
14:37I don't know that I would have made this film if it wasn't Felina trusting me with my own vision.
14:42So my hashtag for 2020 is not just F Corona.
14:47It is hashtag trust Black women and hashtag continue to trust Black women because, again, it was six years of no.
14:54And for Lena, it was the easiest yes she could have given.
14:59So 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 invigorated about what's possible.
15:14You know, since Spike started it to where we are now, just really pushing the envelope around taking ownership of our stories.
15:25Right.
15:26Got it.
15:26Amazing.
15:27Thank you for sharing that.
15:29I'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.
15:38I'm a fan of you.
15:41I am so in awe of everything you've been able to do and how you remixed the dream at all times.
15:49And 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.
16:01And the film is brilliant.
16:02Fall in love.
16:03Comes out in the fall on Netflix.
16:05Thank 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.
16:12Congratulations to you.
16:14Our history making Sundance Black woman director.
16:20Congratulations.
16:21Yes.
16:21And also thank you, like Radha said, to Netflix.
16:24Thank you to Essence.
16:26Thank you to Essence Festival.
16:27I'm your girl, Danielle Young.
16:30I'm Radha Blank.
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