Trailer for the movie "Bully" (Disney Plus)
Two years ago, Disney established a division called Onyx and defined its agenda: to bring to the general public films that give a platform to populations that until now have not been adequately represented in popular culture.
The big hit of this division was "Summer of Soul", which deals with the festival that was nicknamed "the black version of Woodstock".
In this case it was a docu-film, and it won an Oscar in the documentary category.
Now comes the first feature film acquired by the new division - "Bruiser", which is streaming directly this weekend.
In America it is available on HULU, which also belongs to Disney as you remember, and here on Disney Plus.
This is the debut film of Miles Warren, a young African-American director who already at the age of 25 managed to gain such great exposure.
Here he follows a black boy, whose square and fixed father offers no interesting solutions to his adolescent crises.
The alternative comes in the form of a mysterious vagabond who happens to be on his way, played by Trevante Rhodes, who is remembered among other things from "Moonlight".
He becomes a sort of spiritual father to him, until it turns out that the relationship between them is more complicated than we initially thought, and the boy finds himself torn between different models of fatherhood and masculinity.
It will end in a beating.
No license, but with a first film.
Director Miles Warren (Photo: GettyImages, Sean Goldberg)
"The initial inspiration for the film came from the world of WorldStarHipHop video games," says the director in a special interview with Walla!
culture.
"They usually show in a ridiculous way conflicts between black men. They're violent and horrible, but it's hard not to look at them in a comical way. I was interested in exploring how the media portrays the black man as aggressive or violent. It's a convention that was fascinating to play with, and see how it affects a boy Black is in the most formative phase of his life."
You are very young, and not yet a father yourself.
What was it like to write and direct a film about fatherhood from your perspective?
"The truth is, the movie made me afraid of fatherhood. It made me realize how intense an experience it is. Every little thing you do leaves a mark on your child, every little thing can become a big deal."
"My perspective while writing was that of the child. I was an angry child. I didn't think of the men in the film as 'parents' but as people who have a goal - to take someone under their wing and be a father figure for them. I thought about masculinity more than fatherhood. Anyway, it's important to me To point out that I'm on excellent terms with my father and with my parents in general."
More in Walla!
"Social norms dictate that I make children, but instead I make films"
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The inspiration: ridiculous video games.
From "Bully" (Photo: Disney Plus)
Warren is a recent graduate of Wesleyan University, which produced, among others, Lin Manuel Miranda, the creator of "Hamilton" and "Encanto";
Mike White, who was behind "The White Lotus";
Matthew Winner, who signed on to "Mad Men";
and Sara Dossa, whose "Fire of Love" is a favorite to win this year's Oscar in the long-form documentary category.
He finished his law studies a total of two years ago, and returned to his quarry to present the film in a special screening.
Our conversation takes place the day after, near the cafeteria.
Behind us the students are standing in line for breakfast.
The thriving director is almost as young as them, and looks their age.
"I'm used to people not believing that I'm the director. It helped me mix with the crew during filming, what's more, I always wore sweatpants," he says and laughs.
"Take for example Jaylen Hall, the star of the film who plays the boy. The first time we met, he said to me, 'You don't look like a director to me.' I asked him what he expected and he answered me '
Recently, we also saw Hall in "The Story of Emit Till", which deals with the lynching of a black boy, so it is also obviously a hard and violent film.
How did you "protect" him during the filming?
"He's a smart kid. He didn't need protection, he needed guidance. He needed answers to his questions. If we did something intense, I explained to him why it was intense. I asked him not to think too much. To be direct and rough and let it lead him. He He plays a boy who is in a storm of emotions, so it makes sense that his behavior would be a mess."
What is the biggest advantage of being a young director?
"The energies. To make a film is to give up a normal and comfortable lifestyle. It is to do a marathon of mental and artistic gymnastics, so it takes a lot of energy for that. Another advantage is the gratitude. Throughout the filming, I kept telling myself that this might be the last time I do something like this , so I was appreciated every moment."
Mental and artistic gymnastics.
From "Bully"
From the movie "Bully" (Photo: Disney Plus)
In a conversation with the audience after the screening, you said that you don't have a driver's license.
The movie deals quite a bit with cars, driving and their relationship to masculinity, so I was wondering what your perspective on that is as a person who doesn't drive.
"I'm from New York, so I don't have a license and I don't have a car. As a teenager I got to take informal driving lessons from my parents and drive a bit in the non-urban areas of New York State. When your parents teach you to drive, it's a significant moment - for better or for worse. It can be stressful, But it can also bring you together. It's a meaningful connection, so it was important to me to put it in the film. I was also fascinated by this whole idea of taking a child and letting him drive a machine. I was too lazy to get a license, and I wish America had more sidewalks and fewer roads so that a license was nothing So important."
How does such a young director make a film that reaches one of the biggest streaming services in the world?
"I wrote the script with Ben Medina, also a Wesleyan graduate. At first we wanted to write something small that we could get some money for and shoot in the woods or something. So the volume here is chamber and there aren't many characters. Over time, we added more genre and commercial elements, and then Disney's support came. In addition, I made a short film that was the basis for this film, and also functioned as a 'business card' that helped me get credit."
Now on Disney Plus.
From "Bully" (Photo: Disney Plus)
The film was originally called "Bruiser".
I'm not sure there is a word for it in Hebrew, and they translate it here as "Biryon", which is more like "Bully".
"Really? Interesting. Very interesting. 'Bruiser' has different connotations to me than 'Bully', which is a negative pejorative. 'Bruiser' is a big guy who can mow you down, but when you call him that, there's a certain affection for him, even if A slightly strange affection. I deliberately chose a word with a less negative connotation."
Are you excited for the movie to be streaming worldwide?
"From the moment I saw mentions of the film in different languages on social networks, I started to get excited, but also to get anxious. It's not something I expected. Of course, distribution in the cinema also has its advantages, but it's great that streaming allows the film to reach the whole world at once, and that you don't have to worry about the performance at the box office ".
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