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00:00Hey Essence family, it's Joy Marie McKenzie, Essence's senior entertainment editor and I have
00:10a real treat for creatives, for filmmakers, documentarians, or just plain anybody who loves
00:16to see black women's stories on screen. What is it like to be a creative during these times,
00:23very trying times. And I have complete royalty in the building. She definitely needs no introduction,
00:32but I'm going to be professional and introduce her anyway. So we have, she's a critically acclaimed
00:39and award-winning musician, actor, label president, author, and entrepreneur. And I just have to say
00:46a point of personal privilege. Her character on Living Single, Khadijah James, was one of the
00:52reasons why I wanted to be a journalist and a woman boss in journalism. So shout out to Living Single.
00:59That's not in the notes. I just had to say that. She's the first hip hop artist to be crowned with
01:03a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Queen Latifah, if you haven't figured out who I'm talking about,
01:09has had immeasurable success in music and acting. She's got a Grammy, Emmy, Golden Globe Awards for
01:15her work and is Oscar nominated for her role in Chicago. Hey Queen! I'm exhausted after that
01:20introduction. My girl, she was Khadijah. Queen, boom. You know what I mean? I feel like,
01:30dad, I've been working hard, huh? All of that.
01:32Yes, we appreciate your work. It's nice to see you. Just how are you during these times before we
01:41get started? I'm good. I'm good. I'm doing much better than others. I'm alive and so I have breath
01:50in my lungs and so I'm doing much better than some during this time. Whenever I start to get blue
01:57about how crazy things are or how tough things are, I just have to remember I'm blessed. You know what I
02:05mean? I get very grateful and I'm grateful for the help of my family and the fact that I have a roof
02:10over my head and food on the stove and in the fridge. I just get thankful for basic things,
02:17you know what I mean? Just how I can be a help to my family and friends and others, of course.
02:23You know, so it's just, you know, I just have to meditate in the morning because my dreams are crazy
02:29and my, you know, your brain is processing so much through this time. So I just kind of have to
02:36take a pause in the morning when I wake up and breathe for a few moments and just clear and just
02:42settle myself and then we go hard again. Yeah. To the day. Yeah. And you have definitely not stopped
02:49working. We'll be talking about your Queen Collective, how you are mentoring and ushering
02:55in amazing filmmakers and films that we need to see. And so I'm going to introduce the filmmakers
03:00that you've chosen for this year's selection. Samantha Knowles is a Brooklyn-based filmmaker.
03:06Her New York Times documentary, The Blue Line, premiered at Tribeca in 2018. And she is one of
03:13Queen Collective's 2020 selection. She's the director of Tangled Roots. Welcome, Samantha.
03:18Thank you so much. I'm so excited. Yes. And you look great. I love this pop of color on the lip.
03:24That's my kind of, my kind of zhuzh. And two filmmakers who were both co-directed Gloves Off,
03:32which is the second selection, Nadine Nator and Ugana Opaloka. Hi, ladies. Hi. Hi. Nadine was the
03:42associate producer of the Oscar-nominated, Emmy-winning RBG, while Ugana is an Emmy-nominated
03:48TV producer who has directed, written, and produced features from all over the world.
03:53So welcome, all of you. I want to start with Queen first. Why did you start the Queen Collective,
04:00for those who may not know? And why were these two films, Gloves Off and Tangled Roots, just sort of
04:04emblematic of the stories that you thought needed to be shared? Well, as you just introduced the both
04:11of these, or three of these amazing director, producers, they're already critically acclaimed.
04:17They've already been putting in work. They should be directing their films. They should have an
04:22opportunity to direct whatever it is that they have creatively conceived and should be able to execute
04:29that with full support. And unfortunately, it is not the case for many directors, female directors. And so
04:39I shouldn't even have to start this initiative, but it's a bunch of stuff we shouldn't have to do at
04:42this point. What we did see was that there was a major disparity in the amount of women who are behind
04:49the camera's lens. And Mark Pritchard, who is the head of brand management for and branding content for
04:57Procter and Gamble did a panel together. And it was a women's summit in New York. And we both said
05:03afterwards that we have to do something to change that disparity. Less than 10% of all commercials
05:10and movies are directed by women. And so here he is controlling billions of dollars of advertising
05:16dollars. And he wants to put women behind the camera because they want to see a more accurate
05:22portrayal. If nothing else, they want to see a more accurate portrayal of women and girls in front of
05:30the camera, in the media that you see. And so one of the best ways to do that is to put women behind
05:38the lens and give them the power to create. And we decided to start with directors because not only would
05:45we be able to see more of an accurate portrayal, but we find that directors, women directors will hire
05:53a much more diverse crew. So we're kind of hitting the birds with one stone by being able to do that.
06:00And it's been the case that, you know, the women that you have today have been able to hire very
06:04diverse crews and execute their films in that way and hopefully give people another shot in each
06:10department to move forward in advance. And, you know, that's the whole idea, you know, just letting
06:15it spread. I love that. Before we learn more about these filmmakers work, why don't we check out a
06:20trailer to learn to see just what they've been up to?
06:41Of course, we can see why these films were chosen and why these stories needed to be
06:49told. Samantha, I want to start with Tangled Roots because this story was burst out of a personal
06:58sort of struggle with your own hair. Can you tell us about Tangled Roots and why you wanted
07:02to tell this particular story? Yeah. So Tangled Roots was really inspired by
07:09an experience I had in high school where I was reading my high school handbook and I realized that
07:16they discriminated against black hair. They had a rule that male students couldn't have cornrows or
07:22dreadlocks. And even though I wasn't a male student and I had braids, so the rule didn't directly affect
07:30me, it still felt discriminatory. It still felt like it affected me. And I was really upset by it. And I
07:38didn't really have the language to articulate why it upset me so much at the time. But it really,
07:47it really stayed with me. And then fast forward, you know, 10, 15 years later, the Queen Collective put
07:54out this, you know, kind of like ask for films. And it felt like hair discrimination was something that I
08:02could really tackle in a film. And I found my main character, Attica Scott. And she was this woman who
08:10was working in Kentucky as its only black woman state legislator, to pass a bill that would like
08:18ban that type of hair discrimination statewide. And I was so inspired by her. And I just knew that I
08:24wanted to follow her, her whole journey. So yeah, so that's how I kind of stumbled across the topic
08:33and the, and the characters. I love that, because it's so important for black women to be able to
08:38express ourselves authentically in every single space. So that's wonderful. Nadine in Uganda, Gloves
08:45Off centers on this DC police officer. I'm from the DMV. So I was hyped already. Tell us about Gloves Off
08:53and why you chose this particular police officer to follow because she does so much more than policing.
09:01Yeah, we knew, we just knew that when we got this opportunity that we didn't have a story in mind
09:06yet. But we knew that no matter what story we told, we wanted it to center around a really strong,
09:13inspiring woman. And just to extend the purpose of the Queen's Collective, as Queen said, not only for
09:19people behind the camera, but people in front of the camera as well, too. So when we came across
09:23Tierra's story and we found out she was the first African-American woman to be awarded Officer of
09:29the Year because she's creating all these new ways to do community policing, that was incredible.
09:35And then we found out by night she's also an undefeated boxing champion. So we were like, okay,
09:40we don't know where this story is going to go yet, but we think it's worth a phone call. And once we
09:44talked to her and got to meet her and became friendly with her, we knew that there was something
09:49there to be told. Yeah. I want to talk, Nadine, this question's for you. You know,
09:55this is an interesting moment in history, in American history and Black history.
10:02We're all going through something very unique. First, there was COVID that had us all anxious
10:08and in the house. And then another pandemic that we've been dealing with for generations, racism and
10:14racial inequity has really come to a head. I wonder, like in this time of peak activism,
10:21has it changed the way that you're approaching art? You know, even with shows like Cops and other cop
10:28shows being taken off air, will it change how you think about the people that you are following in
10:35the future or choose to document in the future? I'm really excited about this moment and the moment of
10:43activism that we're all currently a part of. It just feels like people, brilliant thinkers have been
10:49discussing some of the theories that we're hearing now for decades, but all of a sudden we're actually
10:55engaging with them as a country. So before that really wasn't on the table. So I, I'm very excited
11:03about all of the activism. I'm excited about the movement. I just think that this is actually
11:09giving us a different future to envision, you know, the status quo, as you mentioned,
11:16it's just been one that has been wracked by a history of racism. So now all of a sudden, as a
11:22country we're engaging with, where can we go next? How do we change the status quo? And that's definitely
11:28where art comes into play. When you see different representations of police or the future of police
11:36on television, then you can wrap your head around what could be different. How can we make things
11:42different? And I definitely plan to engage that way with future projects.
11:48Yeah. And Queen, how about for you, for even your own personal projects? Are you thinking about
11:54it differently now that there's so much protest and so much people that people just want to say?
12:00I can't say I'm 100% thinking about things differently because I, I've always thought like
12:10this, you know, and we've, and when I say I asked me, my partner shot, Kim Flavie and my mom,
12:16we've always thought with the intention in mind to make sure that we gave people opportunities
12:25who would not get them if we didn't do it. And that was just from day one. And maybe it's because
12:30I'm from a hip hop generation. My mother loved hip hop as well. And she was a high school art teacher
12:36who was that cool teacher that you would go to if you had a problem or you go to if it was going wrong
12:41in your household or, you know, so I have like a lot of extended family just from my mother being
12:47a safe haven for so many hundreds and hundreds of students. But she also sneakily showed them how
12:56to become activists by expressing themselves. And maybe it was a sitting in school. If there was no
13:02heat in the school, you know, she maybe quietly told them, well, one should not have to tolerate
13:08not having heat in the school, but perhaps one should sit in one's auditorium and not attend class.
13:15You know what I mean? But she would kind of like, you know, let them know that they had power
13:20and they needed to use their power and they needed to use their voice. So rather than just walking out
13:24of school and saying, forget this, joining together to create more of a movement, to be of one voice
13:32for a purpose. And so, you know, it really just solidifies everything we've been trying to do all
13:39these years and always coming back to the hood, always coming back to Irvington, you know,
13:44North, East Orange, you know, Jersey City, the stomping grounds where we come from and pouring
13:49more into that dirt. You know what I mean? Putting more nutrition into that very soil as we expand
13:56ourselves around the world, because we're global citizens at this point. People like myself, you know,
14:01me, Will, Cube, you know, we're global citizens, but we know where we come from and we know how
14:08malnourished our communities have been in terms of education. Like my high school looks nothing
14:14like it did when I went through, went there. Unfortunately, so many, you could literally
14:18graduate my high school and go into cosmetology, which if you get your license, go into automotive,
14:24become a mechanic, like right out of college, you learn woodshop. There were so many things that you
14:31could take other than just reading, writing and arithmetic. And so it helped you figure out what
14:37you wanted to do with your life and help you build a skill. But all of those electives and extra classes
14:45and choices were kind of taken away. We have one computer class, you know what I mean? And those
14:51things should have grown exponentially, yet you saw them whittled down. And it's like, why must our
14:55educational system be taken from? You know, and, you know, anyway, we could talk about that forever.
15:01But I think in terms of projects that we've had, we've had a few things like irons in the fire that
15:08are happening even quicker now. With the COVID pandemic, a lot of things have slowed down, but
15:14not behind the scenes. So a lot of things are still being prepared for. And so as the world begins to open
15:22up, hopefully all those projects will continue to just grow, just be sort of activated. But they
15:29do the same thing. They still allow for this generation's voice to be heard. So you're going
15:35to see some big things coming from this camp over here in terms of the voice of this generation being
15:42heard. I'm not no old head or nothing like that, but for me, it's not about me. It's about, you know,
15:47these 20 something year olds, you know what I mean? These teenagers, even 30 years. I mean,
15:53anybody from under 40 to me, but particularly in that like teenage years, those twenties,
15:59like those out there on the street, powerful voices who are connected to each other. They're not looking
16:05at race. They're like enjoying each other's culture. And, you know, it's not, it's for us to keep
16:10moving the blocks out the way because we had that opportunity, but people put the blocks back in.
16:16Right.
16:16Separated us once again. So it's like, it's about this generation interlocking and staying there,
16:23you know, it's for the whole ultimate cause of, you know, moving these blocks away permanently so
16:28that we can all move forward as a, as a species. Like what could we, what could we do? You know,
16:34what do you want to go to Mars for? What do you want to do when you get there? No, I love that.
16:39Without the rest of the planet. You know what I mean? What, what, what could you tell a Marsha?
16:44You know what I mean? About our behavior here on earth. You know what I'm saying? So it's, I just feel
16:49like we have, we have so much growing to do and, um, you know, programs like this, like the Queen
16:55Collective, it's really about we're going to having a voice. It's about Nadine having a voice. It's about
17:01Sam having a voice and giving voice to other people so that they have a voice. And I think it's
17:07so timely seeing something like gloves off, especially, you know, especially being a coming
17:12from a cop family. Like you're seeing an officer who, who cares about her community, who's been
17:18discriminated against, but still choosing to give back and, and, and, and how being a police officer
17:24helps her feel more human. And it's important to see both sides of that because right now we're seeing
17:29a lot of one side and, you know, we still have to figure this whole thing out. You know what I
17:35mean? So, um, I couldn't, it couldn't be more timely to see a film like that. You know, we're still
17:42dealing with hair discrimination, you know, meanwhile, you know, you're cherry picking the best of us.
17:47You can't do that. You know what I mean? You can't like take this part and then throw the rest of us
17:51away. Sorry. You know what I mean? So it's just like, you know, these things are very important to be seen
17:57and shown. And I can't wait until Nadine's new documentary comes out, which she could tell you
18:02about herself, but it's, it's, I can't wait to see it because it sounds super dope. And it's
18:07something that we need to see as well. Yay. Before Nadine, you plug your new documentary,
18:13which we can't wait to find out. I want to talk about just this idea of exploring all of our humanity,
18:19because we have, Queen, like you said, we've seen so much of one side. We've seen so much of trauma.
18:24You've seen so much death, whether it's COVID or police brutality. Sam, I want to ask you,
18:31what is it important for you as an artist to show the fullness of humanity and especially these like
18:37revolutionary portrayals of Blackness? And what I mean by that is, you know, Black love without trauma,
18:44you know, Black joy without trauma. Is that important for you in your work? Or how does that fit in when
18:53you're thinking about creating a new project? Absolutely. I think that's so important because
18:59I think so many of the images that were fed, you know, are about oppression, Black oppression and
19:07Black struggle. And those things are so important and, but they don't fully define us and they don't
19:14fully describe us. And I've been just personally, I've been so inspired by images of Black joy and Black
19:24love and Black and also people who are rewriting the rules, even through the struggle that we're,
19:32you know, that we're going through right now, seeing people like Attica and Tiara who are
19:36dealing with that, but also trying to put forth something new is so exciting to me. You know,
19:48there's a lot, for example, there's a lot going on in Louisville right now and Attica is sort of at
19:53the forefront. And, you know, I'm sort of following her every day, but, you know, I see her on social
20:01media out in the streets, smiling with people, inspiring people every day. And that literally
20:08keeps me going through everything that's happening. So I just think it can't be underestimated.
20:14And so it's just, has always been really important for me to, to put that, you know,
20:20to kind of put that forward because I think that's so important to just stay inspired.
20:26Yeah, for sure. And I can't believe we're running. We have literally ran out of time.
20:31So Nadine, before they kill me really quick, just one quick one about
20:37before they kill me, before they cut us off.
20:39Okay. It's my film is about my Palestinian Muslim family running a grocery store in the rural South.
20:45And I talked to our customers after the 2016 election about Islamophobic political rhetoric and
20:51how they reconcile it with visiting our store.
20:53Oh, wow. Look at that elevator change.
20:56I love it.
20:57It's cooking dirty.
20:58And then Queen, how can people see these films, support Queen Collected?
21:03All these films are streaming on BET.com. So you can just, you can stream them now.
21:08Everything is available and yeah, check them out. They're going to be amazing.
21:12Yes. Check them out. And thank you so much for joining us at the Essence Festival
21:17of Culture, Entertainment, All Access. I'm Joy Marie McKenzie. See you guys.
21:23Bye.
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