Save The Date Magazine, May, 2006

BOLDLY INDEPENDENT

An interview with writer and filmmaker M.K. Asante, Jr.

By JOSIAH LEWIS
Save The Date Staff Writer

photo/JOHANNA GUERIN

The son of the founder of the theory of Afrocentricity, M.K. Asante Jr. has emerged in recent years as groundbreaking writer and filmmaker. The author of two books of poetry, Asante turned his talents towards film-making several years ago when he wrote down his ideas for 500 Years Later, an excellent documentary which details the horrible realities of slavery, with a particular emphasis on the ways in which the collective atrocities of slavery continue to affect the descendants of slaves today.

Filmed over a period of three years, in about a dozen countries, and financed entirely by private black investors, the film is a towering example of powerful and enlightening independent film-making. It has won Best Documentary at the Pan African Film Festival (Los Angeles), the Bridgetown Film Festival (Barbados), the International Black Cinema (Berlin) and Harlem Int'l Film Festival (NewYork).

Asante is currently studying for his MFA in screenwriting at UCLA, developing a number of film projects, and also writing seveal books. I had the pleasure is sitting down with him at UCLA for the following interview.

photo/JOHANNA GUERIN

The art and style of author, filmmaker, professor M.K. Asante, Jr.

JL: What inspired you to create 500 Years Later, that is, what was the genesis of the project for you--did you have the idea for the film in mind for years, or was it a more recent idea that came to fruition quickly?

MKA, Jr: My philosophy is, “If I make an observation, I have an obligation.” Growing up in Philadelphia and traveling throughout the African Diaspora, I made many critical observations that I felt obliged to explore. Film was the medium I chose because many of these issue have been discussed, but rarely seen on screen.

JL: To what degree was your father's (M.K. Asante Sr.) groundbreaking work in Afrocentrism/ African Studies an inspiration for you? (Please identify your father and some of his work for our readers).

MKA, Jr: Pops is the founder of the theory Afrocentricity–an enormous contribution to the world. His work, which suggests that African people see the world through their own eyes, has been instrumental in the way I see myself, my people, and my art.

JL: Was it difficult to get investors interested in backing a documentary with a subject a difficult and potentially controversial as the collective atrocities of slavery and it's consequences and lasting repercussions?

MKA, Jr: We were fortunate to have one company--Halaqah Media--fund a lionshare of the project. They've been at the forefront of progressive media in London. They've been there since the beginning. Asante Filmworks, Inc also contributed.

JL: Did you encounter any opposition to the project? To my knowledge, this important film has only had limited availability on DVD. Are you pursuing wider releasing for the film at this time?

MKA, Jr: You must understand that whenever you want to explore hard-hitting sociopolitical issue, there will be opposition. We've been fortunate to not let that stop us. As far as distribution, the film has not yet finished it's festival run, yet. We have distribution deals pending for international DVD release, but those will only happen once the film has finished competing. For now, people can go to the website (www.500yearslater.com) to order the film.

JL: As a musician and a hip-hop fan, I definitely appreciated the distinct hip-hip flavor of the film. To what degree was the music an inspiration for you and the other filmmakers? Are there any particular aspects
of hip-hop culture that you find especially relevant to the subject of your movie?

MKA, Jr: Music is an integral part of African culture and we tried to give it equal weight in the film. The composer, Tunde Jegede, is a musical genius who was able to connect the Diaspora through a diverse range of African musical genres. As far as hip-hop, I consider myself to be apart of the post hip-hop generation. That doesn't mean that hip-hop hasn't influenced this work (it has), however it's not a primary source. The film deals with certain aspects of hip-hop that we felt were problematic for African progress (misogyny, materialism, violence, etc).

photo/JOHANNA GUERIN

M.K. Asante, Jr. walks with Josiah Lewis (interviewer) across UCLA's campus.

JL: Please identify the other filmmakers for us and tell us a bit about how they came to be involved in the project and how you collaborated with them to shape the vision of this film: especially the director, producer, and the many people you interviewed.

MKA, Jr: The director, Owen 'Alik Shahadah, I met signing books (my first book, Like Water Running Off My Back) in London. He is a Barbadian who's been producing films and music in London for the past decade. Owen, like myself, grew up all over the world (Germany, Barbados, London). No matter we had been though, be it Harare, Accra, Harlem, Brixton, North Philadelphia, or Compton, we observed African people struggling with the same issues. Owen, Ako Mitchell, and myself began to work on a project called Voices of the Diaspora which later evolved into 500 Years Later.

JL: Do any of the interviews stand out as particularly impressive or important to you? Describe a few.

MKA, Jr: It was truly an honor to interviewe the giants featured in the film. Dr. Maluana Karenga, the creator of the pan-African holiday Kwanzaa, delivered a message of hope and courage with a precision and wisdom that was unmatched; civil rights activist Paul Robeson, Jr. provided us with a global perspective that encourages a multiculturalism built on respect and equality; psychiatrist Dr. Frances Cress Welsing offered a view on the Black male crisis that is too often overlooked. There are really too many too many wonderful interviews to name, but each one left me feeling like a recycled teenager, as my dear Granny Franny would say.

JL: Why, in your opinion, is there such little discussion in either in the public forum or even in Academic circles, about the atrocities of slavery and it's effects? The topic would appear to be almost taboo? Do you agree?

MKA, Jr: There's a lot of pain, there. Things that are painful are often hard to deal with. Also, Africans, unlike Jews, have been told to forget about the holocaust of enslavement. What 500 Years Later does is to discuss the past, only with the future in sight. We're not dwelling or using it as an excuse, we're simply
revisiting the past to understand where we are today, and to make a plan for the future.

JL: What insight is there to be gained by a thorough examination and discussion of slavery? What would you most like audiences to understand after having seen your film?

MKA, Jr: That slavery was not the beginning of Black history and that, again, we must address the past, to move forward. Also, they should learn about the hundreds of resistance movements that took place in America to combat slavery as well as the wars that took place in Africa against the enslavers. These are events that are never taught in school, but once learned, give African people a new understanding of themselves.

JL: Clearly, writing a documentary is not the same as writing a normal narrative feature film. Describe the process of writing for a documentary and describe your role in the everyday production of the movie.

MKA, Jr: When you write a narrative feature, you come up with the story, write it, then shoot it. With a documentary, you shoot first, then figure out the story, then write it. It's like putting together a 10,000 hour jig saw puzzle made up of words. Then, creating images to correspond to those words. As a producer, I traveled to nearly 20 countries, interviewing subjects, shooting footage, and conducting research.

JL: If you were able to work wonders and have 500 Years Later released tomorrow in theaters nationwide, what do you think the general response to the film would be, given today's political / social climate?

MKA, Jr: I think that today's audiences would love it. This film has been shown around the world, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Fantasy is what people want, reality is what they need–this film deals with the later.

JL: Please tell us something about your other projects, past, present and future? Do you intend to pursue primarily movies, or will you continue to use other forms of expression?

MKA, Jr: No matter the medium, my chief goals as a writer are to tell stories that challenge our perceptions and take us beyond where we were to a place we had not yet considered.

JL: Can you give advice to young or old aspiring filmmakers and writers?

MKA, Jr: For aspiring writers: writer. For aspiring filmmakers: film.