What fear — whether it’s personal, or one related to the development, financing, production or distribution of your film — did you have to confront and conquer in the making of your movie?

Early in the development phase of this project, I was apprehensive about approaching former Black Panther Party members because the Party had so often been misportrayed by popular media. I had a great fear of being turned down and not having any former Party members be part of the film at all. At some point I decided this was a film that needed to be made and in order to do so, I had to confront my fear and be candid about my passion and confidence in the film. I let my passion for the project speak for itself, confident that we would finish the doc one way or another. The great thing about taking 7 years to complete this film was it allowed the project to experience a number of different stages and approaches, allowing me to assess, adapt, and keep moving forward.

[PREMIERE SCREENING: Friday January 23 at 8:30 — The Marc]

Sundance 2015 Responses