Last month, I was invited to lead a KUOW RadioActive youth media workshop for advanced producers on exploring identity through story. RadioActive supports young people’s growth as media makers by sharing access to public radio’s knowledge, skills and institutions.
In preparation, I spent an afternoon of binge listening their stories. Soon realized there was little I could “teach” them about story structure or narrative voice. So I abandoned my original talking points, and focused instead on sharing the behind-the-scenes story of making our film, then opening it up to discussion.
When I shared my personal road map with them, they devoured it, and within 15 minutes, they came up with some of the most personal, insightful road maps I’ve seen. As a closer, they each shared one thing they were taking away from our time together. I’ll leave you with what they said:
– In order to tell my story, I need to look at the bigger picture of my family.
– Not only are the problems that are the most prevalent the ones not spoken about, they’re also the ones with the hardest solutions. And they affect everyone.
– Even in a story not about you, it’s important to know how you relate to it – that will make the story more authentic. If you know where you fit in, it’s easier to tell.
– It’s okay to tell a story about yourself.
– Everything you put in a story should be rooted in love.
– Let the subject tell the story and put away your preconceived notions.
– The story needed to be told and you didn’t know how to tell it – but you just decided to figure that part out.
– Sometimes you have to let go of a story you have put a ton of work into [7 years of work in your case!] in order to find the right story. That’s really hard.
Our primary outreach and engagement goals for A Lot Like You have been to get this film seen by as many people as possible AND to show up for the thoughtful conversations that our story evokes.
Until now, these two have gone hand in hand. Whether I’m traveling to festivals, museums, campuses, conferences, the stories that unfold on the screen continue on in the conversations that follow.
After working on this film in relative isolation for over 8 years, it’s a sublime experience to connect with people across genders, generations, cultures, continents who see themselves and their loved ones reflected in our film.
And at every screening around the world, I’m reminded that as humans, we are wired to connect to one another through story. And the beautiful, vulnerable, personal stories audience members have shared with me have been such a Gift.
So when we were invited to submit our film for nationwide broadcast on public television, we couldn’t have been more excited. The film was going to reach more people than I could imagine, which was as bizarre as it was thrilling.
But I struggled with the dichotomy of knowing the film would potentially reaching millions of people, and yet I would not feel connected to a single one.
And then…this.
I happened to be online one night as a viewer was live tweeting our PBS broadcast. And, for once in my life, I was truly grateful to Twitter for providing a platform where this conversation could happen…
In honor of Women’s History Month, our educational distributors ~ Collective Eye ~ asked female filmmakers to reflect on their experiences as women in the film industry. What they shared is enlightening, inspiring, and insightful. You can read the full blog post HERE.
I had the pleasure of answering their final question (see below)…
Q: What would you say to any aspiring female filmmakers out there?
A: As a queer, mixed-race daughter of immigrants, I believe in working with people whose stories and experiences are largely ignored, minimized, marginalized, or distorted. I feel we have a responsibility to make sure we are contributing our stories to this evolving narrative of the human experience. Because there is something profoundly liberating and validating about seeing aspects of your self, your experience, your truth, reflected back at you from the page, from the canvas, from the screen.
In order to truly honor our stories, we must become the Subjects of our own stories, instead of the Objects of someone else’s. And for the circles I move in—for immigrants, for queer folks, for women and girls, for people of color, for survivors—we often struggle with believing that we have the right to take up space with our story.
But the world needs our stories, told in our own voices, from our unique point of view. Every time we contribute our story to this evolving human narrative, we radically shift the conversation, creating a more expansive, inclusive portrait of humanity.
And when other people see their lives visibly represented and reflected back at them, they’re reminded that their stories do matter. And hopefully in turn, they will feel more inspired and entitled to find their own creative way to tell their story. This is a ripple effect of story telling that I believe in and feel truly inspired by.
It’s been 4 hours, and I’m still buzzing from live tweeting this truly PHENOMENAL conversation between Zadie Smith and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie — about fiction/prose, identity, class, strong women, global mixed race experience, global blackness (being “the good black” vs. African American), retaining agency in interracial relationships, African fashionistas, trauma, Black hair, and the complexities of loving good people who do bad things…
Many thanks to the Schomburg Center for hosting, and to Colorlines for sharing…
In its third #NotYourAsianSidekick Google Hangouts On Air, 18MillionRising will explore the ways multiracial identity impacts AAPI organizing and movement building. Panelists will discuss historical and contemporary successes and challenges related to the ways multiraciality disrupts and complicates racism and the racial construct.
We will also delve into what it means to be AAPI and multiracial; and how the unique experiences of multiracial AAPIs impacts interactions and coalitions between people of color.
Panelists:
Maile Arvin, Postdoctoral Fellow, UC Santa Cruz |@kithandkoko Sharon Chang, Writer & Activist |@multiasianfams Eliaichi Kimaro, Filmmaker, “A Lot Like You” |@elikimaro Manissa McCleave Maharawal, Doctoral Candidate, CUNY Graduate Center N’jaila Rhee, Journalist |@blasianbytch
Facilitator:
Pakou Her, 18 Million Rising |@pakouher
Please join us for a thought-provoking conversation about the impacts of multiracial/mixed-race identity on AAPI organizing, movement building, and racial justice.
Watch it here: http://nyas.18millionrising.org/ Thursday, Feb 27 at 10amPT/11amCT/12pmET
If you just found us following the PBS broadcast of A Lot Like You on AfroPop ~ Welcome!!
Over the past 3 years, we have been hearing from viewers around the world about the amazing conversations inspired by our film that continue long after our movie ends.
So we created the ALLY Project to make a space where we can harness the momentum of these conversations, and build upon them together.
And now, we invite YOU to add your voice to this evolving conversation! CLICK HERE to find out how to submit your own postcard…
~ Look forward to seeing where this conversation takes us ~
So throughout the month of February, AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange will be airing episodes of A Lot Like You on the World Channel. Be sure to check your local PBS listings!!
Many thanks to Sean Jacobs for this kind mention of “A Lot Like You (a beautiful piece of introspective filmmaking; definitely a highlight for me“) in this overview of AfroPoP’s six seasons highlighting stories from the African Diaspora.
A LOT LIKE YOU Broadcast Dates
We’ll be updating these listings throughout the month. Please let us know if there’s a broadcast that we’re missing! (Send listing info to info (at) alotlikeyoumovie (dot) com.
ARIZONA: 2/17 @ 6pm on AZPM
CALIFORNIA (North Bay): 2/17 @ 9pm on KRCB
CHICAGO: Airing twice on WTTW~ Mon 2/17 @7pm and Tue 2/18 @midnight.
Kimaro was reluctant to put herself into her film about her father. However, as more truths were unearthed, the lens through which they were seen began to matter more and more. As a queer, mixed-race, woman of color with immigrant parents, Eli shares her story of how she came to ask about her family, what she learned, and what she was going to do about it.
A Q&A with Kimaro will follow with MAVIN‘s Alicia Woods.
Tickets are $10, museum Members $8. Tickets include gallery admission, including the current exhibition War Baby/Love Child: Mixed Race Asian American Art, on view through January 19. Venue Info: Wing Luke Museum 719 S. King St (in Seattle’s Chinatown/International District) For more information, call 206.623.5124.
This Fall has been a crazy season of work and travel. But I’m finally surfacing, and look forward to having the time and space to reflect on some of the gems from the last few months…starting with these amazing ALLY Project cards from our encore screening at Vancouver Asian Film Festival.
Have your own stories/reflections you’d like to share with us? You can now submit your ALLY postcard online here!
Last month, I was invited to lead a KUOW RadioActive youth media workshop for advanced producers on exploring identity through story. RadioActive supports young people’s growth as media makers by sharing access to public radio’s knowledge, skills and institutions.
