- 4 months ago
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🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00So I'm Yusmeen Talsam. I'll be moderating the conversation and maybe we just start with intros for everyone.
00:07Hi, I'm Yudera Victor. I did the voice for the film.
00:13I'm Jadena Mobison. I was one of the actors on it.
00:18I'm Nana Kwebana. I was one of the writer and directors on the film.
00:23And I'm Zach Cederholm. I was the other writer, director, cinematographer, and editor.
00:29What was so fascinating about this film was the inception and how it all came about.
00:38Nana, can you please share the artistic journey about the project as one of the film directors and how this all came together?
00:47Absolutely. So for those that don't know, I've spent the last 11 years traveling the world with this man, my brother Jadena,
00:57as his producing partner. We made a lot of great music together.
01:01But this film came out actually out of an argument that we had about music.
01:06And he basically challenged me. You know, it's very easy as a producer to stand behind an artist, help an artist fulfill their vision.
01:16And he challenged me as a producer to do the same thing for myself as an artist.
01:22And so out of that, I was able to create an album and then eventually create this film from that conversation.
01:28And so it was one of those things where, like, you know, my brother actually just challenged me to grow.
01:32But it started from an argument. We wouldn't even be here if it wasn't from an argument.
01:35Man, our music was getting shelved from that weak-ass label that we no longer own.
01:40So that's the true story. And then I basically said, you're mad because you don't have your own project.
01:49So for anybody behind the camera, behind the desk, in the lab who is not usually at the forefront or management,
01:59sometimes it's easy to say, all right, you know, this ain't getting out, that's on y'all, I don't know why y'all ain't putting it out.
02:05But when you're in the forefront, that's when you really realize all the work that go on.
02:11And he did that. He said, all right, I'm going to make music.
02:14It started as an album and now it's a whole-ass film. So I'm proud of you, brother.
02:18Thank you, man. I appreciate that.
02:20Sometimes you guys just take it on your own. I feel that.
02:23You have such an amazing voice. It was very captivating when watching it.
02:29And I've seen it multiple times, so I can say that.
02:31But it would be great to hear your thoughts on the disparities in voice casting
02:37and why genuine representation is crucial in our industry right now.
02:41Yeah, so it's interesting because when Nana asked me to do this, I said to him, I was like,
02:48you know I have an accent, though. And he was like, yeah, I said a first-gen accent, a first-generation accent.
02:55I'm from New York. My parents are Nigerian. So I have kind of an Americanized, like neutralized accent
03:03that is very specific to first-generation Americans. And usually I'm asked to put a little Southern something on my voice
03:13for people to know I'm a black woman when I speak. A little, yeah. So I thought, I was like, do you want that?
03:20He was like, no, I want your voice exactly the way it is. And that's the second time that someone has said that to me.
03:28And I think that, you know, there's an expansion happening. You know, I think that we're representing more of the diaspora.
03:38And this film very much does that. And I think by having a first-generation voice on it, it kind of represents like the whole,
03:46like the larger scope of us as black people. And so I do see some change happening.
03:52Like I do see more authentic representation of the various ways that we show up as black people and as black women.
03:58But there's definitely room for more. And I think films like this kind of paved the way for that.
04:03But also having, I think, directors that understand the authenticity aspect of it from both Zach and Nana.
04:11So Zach, this question is to you. Because the, for me, the desert setting was so mesmerizing.
04:18How did you approach cinematography to capture the essence of the environment and influence its story?
04:25And then I have a part two for that.
04:28Yeah, I mean, I can't really even speak to the desert without first speaking to the people that I co-created this with.
04:35It's, in order to shoot in the desert and go in with a super loose plan of the story we're telling
04:42and expect that kind of authenticity and that anticipation of play.
04:47Like this was a film where we went out into a random space in the desert and hiked around until we found the space we wanted to film.
04:55And in the moment, we honestly just BS'd our way through it, if I'm being real.
04:59And that, to me, is the most beautiful form of cinema and of filmmaking, of tapping into that avant-garde.
05:06Because it gives your actors and, you know, the production experience an opportunity to be authentic in a way that doesn't just live on a page.
05:15And you're trying to translate what's on the page.
05:18So, for me, it was, the desert is like the ultimate playground.
05:21And, you know, the people that we brought with, it was, it was, this film was built, like created on a foundation of trust.
05:28So, that's kind of the first element is this mutual respect.
05:32And then we just create the space to play.
05:34And that's what we did.
05:35So, how did you approach depicting sort of the psychedelic and the experiences connected to Palve?
05:41I don't even know how to answer that without revealing myself as a massive stoner, but...
05:47It's okay, it's a safe space.
05:49Yeah, yeah.
05:50To be honest, that's, it's from experience and how that connects to my spirit in a very real way.
05:57It's like, not just taking psychedelics to get high, but taking them to connect to something on a deeper level, that unknown.
06:05So, that is like a deep connection for me on the film.
06:08Yeah.
06:09Okay, so just wait for...
06:12It's on, it's on now.
06:14Oh, awesome.
06:15I was saying, we had a fun pandemic.
06:17Yes, definitely did.
06:18But on that note, I think for filmmakers that are in the building,
06:26we all are just, we're playing pretend, we're playing make-believe like we were as kids.
06:32And this was definitely that for us.
06:35So, thank y'all for even including us in your psychedelic dreams.
06:39Absolutely.
06:40Absolutely.
06:41Absolutely.
06:42No, it was beautiful.
06:43Honestly, I like, even getting into filmmaking and being a producer for all this time,
06:46I feel like making films for me, I literally just feel like a kid again.
06:50And I think it's so important to like, find new spaces to feel brand new.
06:54Find new spaces to be like in a space where you know nothing, you know the least in the room.
06:58And you just have the most to learn, you know?
07:00And so, there's something about it every day where working with this guy who has been a filmmaker for most of his life,
07:05and being able to watch him, you know, create his films.
07:08I felt like that little kid, you know, on like the first day of school, back to school day, that like had my bag packed already.
07:15I was up early before my parents were.
07:17I was ready to go to the bus early.
07:19Like, I felt just so excited to learn during the pandemic.
07:22And I think, you know, it really created the opportunity for all of us to synergize and create this piece of art.
07:27That's great. For me, post-production is probably the most exciting element of creating a film.
07:34And so, this question is for Nana and Jodena on the music part.
07:38Music often, for me, enhances the emotional depth of a film.
07:43Both of you have built an authentic collaboration over the years.
07:47I didn't know that.
07:48And as sort of a dynamic duo from producer to artist, and now actor and director.
07:54One, how did this sort of partnership blossom into what it is now?
08:00The first, okay, so let's get to the first time that we met, actually.
08:05So, Jodena and I met, we were at UPenn's campus in Philadelphia, where Adara and I actually went to school.
08:11And I remember this guy came out of the blue.
08:14And I think we were enjoying in one of Zach's favorite pastimes by the biopond.
08:23And we were arguing, and we had a debate, as we always do argue, about this book called Guns, Germs, and Steel.
08:31You remember this?
08:32And we just argued about our theories about how we got to where we are today, essentially.
08:37And from that moment, over the years, we've been able to grow, we've been able to learn.
08:42And then I remember we both went apart and then reunited in New York.
08:46Jodena called me one day, asked me to come meet, and I remember we pulled up to this speakeasy.
08:52And he was sitting down at this speakeasy at this table, and he had a bag on the floor.
08:59And he was like, look, we can make music together, and we can just do a one-off, and I'll just give you whatever's in this bag as payment for the song that we create.
09:09Or we can actually do a long-term partnership, where I pay you a little less money, and we build something that's going to last forever.
09:16And I chose the second option.
09:18And that's what led to us being able to make music together.
09:21Wow.
09:22Whatever number I told him I had in the bag, I didn't have it.
09:26He definitely didn't have it.
09:27I did have an envelope that I ran to an ATM to get at least $100 in there, but I did not have that.
09:34I have no idea what was in that bag.
09:37But I'm glad you chose option two.
09:39So what can we expect from the soundtrack?
09:41Can you give us a little snippet?
09:43Yeah, so we did something completely different for this.
09:45So when I created the album that he inspired me to make, I didn't want to make just like a visual album.
09:50I feel like that's kind of played out.
09:51I've seen it before.
09:52I was like, how do we do something new and different?
09:54So what we did, the album that we made, it's like an Afrobeats album, a little left to center.
10:00Anybody love Afrobeats here?
10:02Woo!
10:03Beautiful, beautiful.
10:04This is for you.
10:05And so what we did is we took that music that we made, and we actually put together a piecemeal orchestra in Atlanta, all black,
10:12and reinterpolated the Afrobeats music and made cinematic orchestral versions of Afrobeats music.
10:19That music was used to score this film.
10:21Wow.
10:22And so for me, I think the thing that we're always thinking about that we've been consistent with our music is like,
10:27how do we challenge people to think outside of the box, to think different, and to go deeper into our might,
10:33go deeper into our power, and stretch beyond the bounds of anything that we ever thought was even possible?
10:38And so we wanted to approach this project with the same philosophy, and that's what led to this.
10:43That's phenomenal.
10:44So Jidenna, you've been known at least to speak out in protection of black women on several occasions.
10:51But in this film, you're playing more of a sinister character.
10:56How did you approach that?
10:58Looking at my own life, honestly.
11:02And I've gotten into trouble for this, I think, because people don't want to look in the mirror.
11:09As a cis man, a heterosexual man, as a black man, as an African man, my shadow is, I see my shadow.
11:19I know what I've done. I know who I am.
11:22The only way that I can heal and grow from that is really looking at myself, my brothers, with a keen eye,
11:31accepting my whole self, my darkness, my brightest and highest self.
11:37That's number one.
11:39This character allowed me to embrace the sinister side of me.
11:44Egba, which comes from Legba or Papa Legba or Eshu, for those who follow Aoife or wherever you're from,
11:52there's a trickster deity like this guy.
11:54When Europeans encountered this kind of trickster deity, of course, they thought this was the devil.
11:59But in fact, that deity is often a gatekeeper between worlds and a steward of chaos and also being crafty.
12:09And I've always related to that character, the tricksters, the magicians.
12:14So none of them knew that in me.
12:16So it wasn't nothing to put on a little smile.
12:19I have a little Chessire cat in me, but he allowed me to be a little bit more sly.
12:24So that was a beautiful thing.
12:26I think it starts with the honesty of really looking at yourself in a mirror.
12:30I love that. I love that.
12:31Adara, the villager's hair holds significant symbolism in the film.
12:35I mean, your hair is gorgeous today, by the way.
12:38But as black women, our hair is pivotal in our lives every day.
12:42What do you feel the symbolism, what's the themes of identity and protection in that?
12:47I mean, I feel like this film represented so much about what hair means.
12:55What hair means spiritually.
13:00What it represents in terms of our power.
13:03I am currently working on a documentary about hair.
13:06And we're exploring what it means in terms of identity, especially for black women.
13:11What it means in terms of identity.
13:13The politics around it.
13:15How much freedom can you have in relation to your hair and existing in the world.
13:21And we traveled to Paris and we were speaking to people there.
13:26And Paris is unique in that more than any place I've been, there is a collective of various African nations all kind of coming together to create one culture.
13:37And so when I spoke to people there, I met with a hairologist and he would like go into people's hair, look at where they might have like a problem area and point to something in their life that might be going on.
13:53Like, are you having a problem in your career?
13:56Are you having trouble in your marriage?
13:58And if we would be spot on for whatever it is?
14:00And, you know, he was talking about going back to Africa, going into the villages, going to the far corners to really get back that ancient knowledge that was kind of stripped from us.
14:09get back that ancient knowledge that was kind of stripped from us, I feel like this film
14:13represents that sort of reclaiming of that knowledge and that power. And you know, I met
14:19another man in Paris who was like, I had a sew-in at the time, and he was like, no, like
14:27your scalp has to face the sun, you know? He was like, he was like, all of your hair
14:32needs to be out because it's like antenna, it collects information, it tells you things,
14:37it's guidance, like there was all this power and knowledge that they were still very connected
14:42to that growing up in America, I feel, has been very stripped from us and we've been kind
14:48of separated from that understanding of what our hair means in terms of who we are on a
14:54very core level, you know, besides what the mask or the front shows. And this film, I feel
15:01like, is saying that that reclamation, and Nana, you can speak more to this, but for me, what
15:07it represented was that that reclamation of ourselves through just that knowledge, that
15:13knowledge of our hair, that knowledge of what we created, is what will save us, nothing else,
15:20no other, you know, voodoo, anything else, just that knowledge of ourselves, you know,
15:26will be what saves us.
15:28Homeboy's contact in Paris, because my life is stressful, but let me tell you, I know.
15:32So I'm told to wrap, so the last question is, how can the audience sort of support the film?
15:40Yes, the best way to support this film?
15:43Tithes and offerings.
15:44Tithes and offerings. We're passing around a collection plate right there, actually.
15:48So if you can just reach into your pocket and give us all your money.
15:53No, but for real, I would say, joining us on socials, our hashtags, or our handle is
15:59endallspells. You can also go to endallspells.com. We also have a couple care packages for y'all
16:07that include a scalp oil to make sure y'all are taking care of your hair.
16:11Shout out to our sponsor, Shea Moisture.
16:13Yes, shout out to Shea Moisture and to Curious Elixirs. We also have a mushroom beverage. It's
16:19not psychedelic. You're not going to be tripping and seeing rabbits running around the room or
16:23anything like that. It's healthy mushrooms, the lion's mane reishi. It's a great mixer for a cocktail,
16:29but feel free to see us right after this, and we'll pass those out as well.
16:32Thank you, guys. Thank you all. Appreciate it.
16:34Thank you, guys.
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