redlighterfilms:reel good film club x red lighter films !!! we had the pleasure of speaking with m
redlighterfilms: reel good film club x red lighter films !!! we had the pleasure of speaking with maria cabrera of reel good film club about diversity in the film industry and our respective companies’ efforts to subvert institutions and mainstream media practices M: What do you think of these terms that apply to the work we’re doing, such as “diversity” and “communities”? Do you think they continue marginalisation? They can be very patronising and often everyone is put into one box in which they can be picked from and put into a film or into a school programme and then the authorities can say they “diversified it”. C: Only the minimum is being done. “We’ll put one black person here who will be the best friend character, then we’ll have this white cis gay person who’s also going to be a peripheral character and is probably going to say misogynistic or racist things”. This “diversity” is not really diverse because it operates to uphold the system and it also reinforces stereotypes 90% of the time. I can’t believe there are such a few films that feature, for example, black women in lead roles where their story doesn’t pivot around… H: …hardships they face for being a black woman specifically. No one is being allowed to exist outside the archetype of their identity. C: That is what we want to fight against with Red Lighter. It’s not just about creating a quota– “oh we got this off the list”- but we want to question whether the stories we are telling, which are diverse, are complex and can be pushed further. H: At the risk of sounding all ‘we’re-all human-and-we’re-all-the-same’, we’re trying to tell stories that are not simply: a trans character and the whole story is about being trans. It can be a complex moment in time about a person, of course their identity is important, but they can exist as people. Also, with diversity in this industry we have to look further than the characters. Even if the the lead character is POC or is trans or even if the writer is and there’s a good base for the story, the 100 people working for the movie such as the producers, studio executives and the people that decide if the film will get distributed, could be all white. C: The final product is a reflection of every single person involved in it and it is important and crucial to diversify your sets in every way. click here to read the rest of our conversation and check out reel good film club at their facebook page !!! -- source link