They have seen Ryan Coogler (
Black Panthe
r), Barry Jenkins (
Moonlight
) or Jordan Peele (
Get Out
)
break through
and welcome progress, but many African-American directors still come up against a film industry far from welcoming them. open.
Read also: John Boyega criticizes Disney for his treatment of characters from minorities
Charlie Buhler wanted to make an action film, a pandemic thriller, an idea that was working on her long before the coronavirus.
The young thirty-something, mixed race, went knocking on doors, but "
it's already hard for a woman to make an action film, so a woman of color ...
" Without any means, she still realized
Before the Fire
, partly on her grandmother's farm in South Dakota where she is from.
The film was selected at the Harlem International Film Festival, which ends this Sunday, in a virtual version.
New Horizons
Over the past five years, an unprecedented number of African-American directors have achieved worldwide recognition, in very different genres, the most visible being Ryan Coogler, whose
Black Panther
has collected $ 1.3 billion at the box- office.
“
Things have changed
,” observes Cheryl Hill, a black producer and former Disney studios executive.
There is more demand.
We can't talk about 2020 yet, but 2018 and 2019 were good years.
I have hope.
"
All of them mention the role of video platforms, Netflix in particular, which have opened up horizons for minorities.
The fall in the cost of equipment and access to the Internet have also made it easier to make films and present them to the public.
“When I started, over 20 years ago, they said, there's no market”
for films with black actors, recalls Cheryl Hill, co-founder of the Harlem Film Company.
“
The sequel proved to be ridiculous.
"
To read also: Aïssa Maïga: "
When I set foot in this profession, the color of my skin became a central issue
"
But the doors did not open wide, see many professionals.
“
I wasn't going anywhere
,” recalls Charlie Buhler, 32 today,
as white men my age worked their way up the ranks because they were given a chance, even though they had no experience.
"
“
The film industry has long been based on learning,
” explains Jonathan Tazewell, whose film
Gotta Get Down To it
, was also selected by the festival, known for its openness to diversity.
“
The idea is really to push someone you know
,” he said.
And if that only happens between a white person and another white person, then the face of the industry cannot change.
"
The solution of positive discrimination
In 2019, the proportion of black comedians in films in the United States was 15.7%, higher than their share in the American population (13.4%), according to a study published in early September by the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, a think tank attached to the University of Southern California (USC).
But behind the camera, of the 100 highest grossing American films, only 6.3% of directors were African-American.
Some 93% of the producers were white men.
Read also: The Oscars impose diversity criteria to be eligible for the trophy for best film
Last week, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences put in place a series of criteria that a work must meet to claim the Oscar for best film, starting in 2024. Distribution, technical team, but also production , or learning programs for minorities, it will now be necessary to provide guarantees of diversity.
Since its creation 15 years ago, the Harlem Festival has in its DNA the mission of "
presenting a significant number of films (which emanate from) under-represented voices
", according to Nasri Zacharia, the programming director.
“
We give visibility, recognition.
For Jonathan Tazewell, it's now up to major festivals to follow suit, adopting measures similar to those of the Oscars.
“
Positive discrimination has a bad reputation because behind it is the idea that the people who benefit from it do not deserve it
,” considers Charlie Buhler, “
when this is not the case.
The white community has enjoyed some form of affirmative action for centuries.
"
Will the acceleration of the Black Lives Matter movement since spring infuse the world of culture in general and that of cinema in particular?
“
After the start of #MeToo
, remembers Charlie Buhler,
I felt a real change in the relationship between men and women.
I hope it will be the same this time.
"
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