This February (Black Heritage Month) marks the 3rd anniversary of our national PBS broadcast premiere on AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange. This also marks the final month that our film, A LOT LIKE YOU, will be airing on public TV stations across the country. (So check your local listings!) We’ve seen a surge of hits on our website, and beautiful emails from viewers I will never meet have been streaming in, telling me about the impact this film has had on them. So very moving…
And yesterday, while loitering on the internet, I stumbled upon this online AfroPoP Discussion Guidefor A LOT LIKE YOU, with beautifully framed synopses of some of the key issues in our film, including:
GENDER, POWER & VIOLENCE
According to the World Health Organization, about 140 million women (92 million in Africa) have undergone some form of female circumcision (also commonly referred to as FGM, female genital mutilation). There is no medical reason for the procedure and it often causes long-term damage to women’s health. International organizations, including the United Nations, consider the practice a human rights violation. In the film Ndereriosa, Kimaro’s aunt, says, “You’re circumcised because a girl is not expected to have the sexual lust of a man. That’s what they said. But it’s not true.”
CHALLENGES OF PERSONAL STORYTELLING
In the film her aunts ask Kimaro, “Now that we’ve shared our stories with you, what are you going to do about it?” Revealing the challenges a filmmaker might have telling a story that rests so close to home. At first Kimaro struggles to tell her parents’ and her aunts’ stories, saying “we tried for months to capture what we thought of as Chagga culture.” Ultimately highlighting how difficult it could be for a filmmaker to preserve the authenticity of others’ stories while also acknowledging that stories can really only be told through the lens of our own personal perceptions.
If you’re looking for some ideas/prompts for how to use this film as a springboard for some deep, engaging discussions, be sure to check out/download this thought-provoking A LOT LIKE YOU Discussion Guide!
Thank you for showing the truths that hadn’t yet been voiced. I think that by telling your family’s story you helped to guide them to change. Being able to change and transform peoples lives like that is truly amazing and I envy you for having that spectacular talent.
A LOT LIKE YOU spoke to me in a lot of ways. I liked the overall theme of the movie which in my mind was finding who you are and then coming to the conclusion about what you want to tell/pass on to your children.
But I absolutely loved the themes that related to you and your family which, in my mind, was sexism, violence against a certain gender and childhood trauma. I loved how honest, vulnerable, and human your story is and I’m so happy that you made this documentary. And Ifound it amazing how the truths that were spoken by your aunts helped inspire you.
Again, thank you for your story. It was a fascinating and astonishing, and I hope to be able to tell a story as well as you one day.
– Akirah
[To read the other posts in this 8th Grade Reviews ALLY series, please CLICK HERE…]
I am so thankful that you came to our school to tell us about your experience, your trip, and your family. This film was very inspiring and honest. I am impressed that this was only your first film. I could tell at a certain point in the film there was a huge shift in thinking on your part. As part of the audience, I could really feel that.
A recurring theme in the film was truth. That telling the truth can free someone and lift a burden off the heart, as your aunt put it.
We all judge. We look at someone and think we know everything about them. The thing is, no one is exactly as they seem. There are always things left unsaid or covered up. No matter how hard we try to forget or even pretend it never happened, it hurts us in the end. We have to learn to accept our past. When we learn to allow the truth we have been hiding or simply let go, we find our real self.
I was so impressed that your aunts opened up to you the way that they did. It might have been hard, but afterwards, they changed. It was so interesting how your aunts told you about their experience, but the men were silent. After, the woman felt better, but the men still held on to their past.
I am amazed at your work and effort put into this beautiful film. You really inspire me to push through hard times and keep going. I love your energy and enthusiasm when talking about your story. I am so glad that I was able to watch your film. Although you didn’t achieve exactly what you went there for, in the end you became closer to your family, learned about their culture, and maybe a little about yourself along the way.
Thank you for sharing your story,
Sincerely,
Emma
[To read the other posts in this 8th Grade Reviews ALLY series, please CLICK HERE…]
Occasionally, we get requests from middle school teachers asking whether A LOT LIKE YOU is appropriate for their students. My answer is always, “it depends.” Teachers know their students best. And our trailer is an accurate representation of the scope and tone of our film.
I will say that it is amazing to see the impact this film can have when kids are ready for it. A while ago, I was invited to screen the film and discuss my film journey with Lake Washington Girls Middle School‘s 8th grade memoir writing class. They not only filled out postcards for the ALLY Project, but I subsequently received a pack of the most brilliant, insightful letters. I got their permission to post their letters on my blog. And so, over the coming months, we will be posting a new letter every Wednesday.
Their reflections will blow you away…
[To read the other posts in this 8th Grade Reviews ALLY series, please CLICK HERE…]
DECATUR – A shared story can transform a life, and truth that is never spoken can never lead to change.
This was the message that director Eliaichi Kimaro delivered to students, faculty and staff during a visit to Richland Community College.
Kimaro, a first-generation American with Korean and Tanzanian roots, created the award-winning documentary “A Lot Like You,” which examines her journey to find personal balance
and a connection with Chagga culture, made of tribes living on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro.
“We all have a need to have our stories heard, to know that our lives matter to someone other than ourselves, that who we are in this world matters,” she said. Kimaro demonstrated the difference that catharsis can have on an individual by showing film clips of her aunt before and after she told her story, a visible change from tension and anger. “It’s all about opening doors and shedding light in a lot of dark places,” she said.
In anticipation of the visit, sociology professor Kristi Palmer showed two of her classes the documentary, prompting discussion on the film’s sociological impact and integrating aspects in other lectures.
Palmer said being exposed to cultural experiences allows for greater acceptance and understanding for students, and Kimaro’s message shows that though everyone has a unique story, the stories overlap with many of the same emotions at their core level. “We are so much more than what we present; we are full of experiences, questions, doubts,” she said. “I think that, ultimately, it makes you look beyond what you see on the surface and realize there’s a history in each person that has shaped them dramatically.”
Richland student Lakyshia Reed said having enough courage to share one’s personal story can be a difficult boundary to cross. “A lot of people are too scared to let their story be told or to tell their own story,” she said. “I think her story brought a lot of hope to myself and to speak on my own story.”
Sherrie Hildreth, an instructor of humanities, music and sign language, comes from African-American, Cherokee, Italian and Ossetian ancestry. She said identity is an important journey for college students, who are at the height of searching for self-discovery and cultural relevance.
“There are some things that you just can’t teach from a textbook,” she said. “I often tell mystudents that no one has the same story that you have, and many do not have the
opportunity to tell their story and be told that it is valuable.”
While in Chicago, I missed the opening night of the Bojagi: Unwrapping Korean American Identitiesexhibition at Wing LukeMuseum (November 14, 2014 – June 21, 2015). I had the pleasure of serving on the planning committee for this exhibit that “brings together diverse perspectives to explore and challenge what it means to be Korean American.” Tom and I checked out the exhibit this afternoon, and I was so moved to see how it has all come together.
In addition to serving on the planning committee, they interviewed my daughter Lucia and I, and asked us to reflect on what being Korean American means to us. Our stories & voices were combined with many others, forming installations throughout the exhibit that explore issues of identity and belonging using video, text and/or sound.
We also donated several personal items–including Lucia’s Dol Hanbok that she wore on her first birthday, the wedding cloth that we used to catch chestnuts during our ceremony, a painting of village women cooking, and several family portraits.
I was caught off guard by the power of seeing these personal items so carefully placed, perfectly lit, made available for people to peruse, consider, interpret, discuss. It’s bringing attention to an aspect of my life that I mostly took for granted. And while I have not always been included in Korean spaces, I haven’t felt excluded in a long time…perhaps in part due to the film.
Over the past 3 years, A Lot Like You has been invited to screen at many prominent Asian American film festivals. I’ve been so moved by how this family story, which takes place almost exclusively on Mt. Kilimanjaro, is being seen as relevant to understanding the Asian American experience here in N America.
And still, my initial response to our personal items being on display is an overwhelming sense of Feeling Seen…and feeling profoundly grateful for having our mixed family’s brand of Korean-ness treated with such dignity.
I will no doubt return to this exhibit many times in the coming months, and expect my relationship to this exhibit will continue to evolve. In the meantime, if you’re in Seattle between now and June 2015, be sure to check out this interactive exhibit that invites us all to consider the complexities of what it means to be Korean American…
I’ve been hoping to screen our film at Smith College for quite some time. Having heard about their graduate social work program from dear friends who are now alums, I knew our film would be uniquely well-suited to help them deepen into the meaty conversations they’re already having.
So my profound gratitude to Charles Shealy and the Council for Students of Color for bringing me in for this screening event. I’m looking forward to what promises to be a juicy post-screening discussion…
Their event description:~ A Lot Like You is an amazing documentary that will be shown along with a Q&A with director Eliaichi Kimaro. Her moving film takes us back to her father’s family in Tanzania and confronts the realities of colonization, revolution, globalization, family violence, mixed identities, trans-national families, and reclaiming roots in a complex manner. Ellie is able to bring out all of the complexity and hold it in a warm space for us as she takes us on her journey of discovery of global questions that have personal answers.
7:00-9:00 p.m., Weinstein Auditorium Open to Public
On Monday, I came across this TED talk, but didn’t have time to watch it. I kept this page open on my desktop all week. Every time I’d come back to it, I’d think, “Man, I’ve got to listen to this when I have time.”
This morning, I had time. I listened. I cried. It was worth the wait.
There’s always somebody who wants to confiscate our humanity. And there are always stories that restore it. If we live out loud, we can trounce the hatred, and expand everyone’s lives. Forge meaning. Build identity. And then invite the world to share your joy…
Feeling profoundly grateful I finally had the opportunity to share A Lot Like You (DVD & soundtrack) with Ira Glass.
Amidst a crowd, I managed to tell Ira what a pivotal role he played in the making of our film.
In 2009, our film hit that critical turn where editor Eric Frith and I realized that I needed to assume the role of storyteller. But I didn’t know how to do it. So I turned to This American Life, and devoured every YouTube video of Ira talking about story structure (especially his 4-part series on Storytelling).
So yesterday, when I told Ira I owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude, and that our film is what it is because of all that he’s shared, I meant every word.
