It’s no secret that the film was loosely inspired by true events, or that it wasn’t exactly historically accurate, but you may be surprised by the extent to which artistic liberties were taken. Exactly how much was different, and why does it matter?

Colonial History 101

By the seventeenth century, much of North America was still undisturbed by outsiders. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end. A group of English colonialists under the Virginia Company of London landed in current-day Virginia in 1607 to form Jamestown, England’s first permanent settlement in North America. The first expedition to the settlement included Captain John Smith, a soldier who later became one of Jamestown’s first colonial governors. The settlement was off to a rocky start with insufficient supplies and rough seas, but their fate turned around with tobacco. In 1608, the English merchant John Rolfe landed in Jamestown. He introduced the Orinoco strain of tobacco from Trinidad to Virginia, which became a profitable cash crop.

Pocahontas

The main thing which the Disney film got right is the fact that Pocahontas was the beloved daughter of the paramount chief of Powhatan, a network of tribes in current-day Virginia. Beyond that, the facts get very muddy. First of all, ‘Pocahontas’ was only a popular nickname, her two official names were Amonute and Motoaka.

John Smith

The love story between Pocahontas and John Smith was a purely Disney invention, created in the hopes that a Romeo-and-Juliet-esque storyline would capture audiences. That being said, it’s probably for the best that there was no real romance. In the movie, they met as adults. In reality, Pocahontas was only ten or eleven and John Smith was in his late twenties.

The dramatic scene in which she rescued Smith from execution is impossible to confirm. All accounts of it originated from Smith himself, and it is likely to be a gross exaggeration. Nonetheless, Pocahontas did become a mediator between the English and the Powhatans, helping to smooth relations as the two groups began to exchange goods. In her mid-teens, Pocahontas married Kocoum, a fellow Native American, likely of the Patawomeck tribe. In the film, she was evading a forced marriage to Kocoum, which is an incredibly unfair depiction of their marriage. Kocoum died only a few years later, allegedly around the time of Pocahontas’s kidnapping.

Yes, kidnapping.

John Rolfe

In 1613, Pocahontas was kidnapped and held for ransom by the colonialists to force negotiations with the Powhatan chief amid the then-strained relations over resources. The plan worked. Afterwards, Pocahontas remained close to the English, eventually converting to Christianity and learning their ways. During this time, she met and married the also widowed John Rolfe. By most accounts, they genuinely fell in love. They had one son, Thomas, and stayed in Virginia for two years before travelling to England.

The Virginia Company of London funded this trip to promote trade and settlement in the New World. Pocahontas was presented as a “noble savage” to prove to the English that even Native Americans could be moral, educated and groomed. Disingenuously marketed to the English as a “princess”, she was introduced to polite London society. She fell ill on the voyage back to Virginia in 1617 and died on arrival, aged only 20 or 21.

Implications

It can’t be denied that Pocahontas was a fun film, and fun films sometimes require tweaking of the facts. However, its makers must have known the effect of creating a huge-budget production that was so far from reality. Many people still view Pocahontas as a one-dimensional character in a love story, but she was so much more than that. She was equally a political mediator and a political pawn. She died far too young, with her legacy shrouded by the biased accounts of people who took advantage of her.

Artistic liberty should, perhaps, have its limits. One can view this as just a children’s film about a woman who died over 400 years ago. Alternatively, one can recognise that this is one of thousands of stories that feed into the colonialist-hero trope which has slowly but surely watered down the harsh realities of what the British imposed upon North America.

To tell a story is to shape reality. What reality are you creating?

Also Read: Time’s Up for ‘Steamboat Willie’: A Shift in American Copyright

The post Straying From The Truth: The Historical Facts Disney’s ‘Pocahontas’ Overshadowed appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

We know the names: Cynthia Erivo (Harriet), Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out), Thandiwe Newton (Westworld), Idris Elba (The Wire), Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Game of Thrones), David Oyelowo (Selma), Ruth Negga (Preacher), John Boyega (Star Wars), and dozens more. They’ve played comic book characters, civil rights activists, sci-fi heroes, inner-city drug dealers— The entire gamut of Black American cinema and tv. Some of my AfrAm brothers and sisters take exception to that. And I understand why.  But hear me out. And stay ’til the end. 

The Americans

Since the moment we set foot on the American continent, Black Americans have been inundated with accusations of inferiority. This issue isn’t unique to us; However, no other country was built around that concept. Each generation has inched along, fighting the destruction of our self-esteem and our bodies by White America, as well as generational poverty, injustice, and erasure. And after centuries cut off from our roots, from global “Blackness”, we’ve developed in a vacuum. Everyone is other. We are surrounded on all sides. We will not be erased. 

With that in mind, Black British actors, in a sense, are seen as performing “American Blackface”. Someone outside of ourselves, “… that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more…” From our perspective, British actors swoop in, are granted coveted roles, then disappear with accolades. It’s just another case of outside exploitation.

There’s also a feeling of loss: In the film ‘Black Panther’,  the antagonist Killmonger says, “Just bury me in the ocean with my ancestors that jumped from the ships, because they knew death was better than bondage.” That line was added by Chadwick Boseman, who played the titular character. A British actor would not think to add or change lines to better reflect the Black American experience, nor would they fight for those changes, even if they occurred to them. Although David Oyelowo and Carmen Ejogo, who played Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King respectively, did excellent jobs, their performances came across as sterile, and exact, as a concert pianist trying to capture “the Blues”. Technically correct, yet missing the “flavor” and “heart” of Black America.

The British

In contrast to the isolationist viewpoint of Black Americans on this topic, Black British performers seem to take the view that, although not always as explicit, the tendrils of racism have stretched far and wide– and touch Black Britons as much as anyone. Perhaps more so, as the insidiousness of the systemic racism they’re entrenched in is a quiet, creeping thing: Hard to suss out and defeat. When George Floyd was killed in May of 2020, marches sprang up around the globe. Like Superman’s death cry in the opening scene of Zack Snyder’s ‘Justice League’, the pain of Black America sent piercing ripples throughout the world. And when those self same people appear to reject the British experience of Blackness– there’s a sense betrayal. The knife cuts deeper.

Theirs is the same quest for opportunity. The same desire for Black stories to be told. The same drive to give a stellar performance. Only to be told you’re the wrong kind of Black.

My Thoughts

Are Black British actors more prepared, and better trained? Perhaps. When you’re coming to a topic from the outside, you don’t coast. You don’t take it for granted. American actor Brian White is quoted as saying: “I have not seen one British actor that hasn’t trained in theatre show up in an audition.” Pair that with the dismantling of the arts in America, and you may have a point.

But is that really the core issue? This river has two heads: The lack of opportunities for Black performers… and the need for unification amongst the Diaspora. United Artists, currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, was founded in 1919 by Charlie Chaplin et al on the premise of empowering actors to control their own interests, breaking dependance from commercial studios. I propose Black Americans put suspicion and offense aside, and take the long view: The more we embrace and reconnect with our allies in the Diaspora, the more of an empire we build around the world. It’s time to abandon the internal skirmish mentality, and embrace the Big Picture: We’re stronger together. As they say, “United We Stand, Divided We Fall”.

Also Read: The Rise of Nigerian-British Filmmakers

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The post Bridging The Divide Between Black Brits and African Americans appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

Fresh from our screening of Brash Young Turks, we spoke to  the charismatic director, Naeem Mahmood to get the scoop on what drives and motivates him.

Big Picture Film Club: What got you into filmmaking?

Naeem: I grew up in West London and in my teens I got involved in street crime. I found school uninspiring and a waste of time. I’d bunk off and make short films with my brother using a battered home video camera, recruiting actors from the local neighborhood. That was my escape.

BPFC: How did the idea for Brash Young Turks come about?

Naeem: I saw a lot of poor films coming out of the UK with the same old faces, stereotypes, and cliches. Either pointless films about the monarch or the rugrat that never ventures beyond the council estate. I wanted to make a film with a lot more ambition, swagger, style, and substance. One in which it’s young protagonists, who are from the wrong side of the tracks, aim high and are not afraid to break out of the box and carve out their own identities, hook or by crook.

BPFC: Describe the filmmaking process for Brash Young Turks?

Naeem: It was like going to war! I set my sights high despite the limited budget and lack of resources. I didn’t want to make a film set in a room with a couple of actors, I wanted to create a world, portray London in an almost fantastical light. This meant having to hustle in order to get the glamorous locations, stylish costumes, fast cars etc.

BPFC: How has the feedback been for Brash Young Turks?

Naeem: People have never seen a film like this in the UK. There’s been a lot of talk about the bold “hyper-sensory” nature of the film, the larger than life characters and bright colours. Audiences have found it refreshing to see a British film that follows it’s own path and doesn’t conform to any stereotypes.

BPFC: What advice do you have for budding filmmakers? 

Naeem: Stay focused in a world of distractions. Distractions are the enemy of your creative talent. Eliminate them.

BPFC: What’s next for Trailblazer films? 

Naeem: We’re gonna amp things up with a hyper-stylized, raucous crime thriller entitled ‘Us.’ It’s time to raise the levels!

Big Picture Film Club would like to thank Naeem Mahmood, the cast of Brash Young Turks and Julian Glover for giving a wonderful Q&A at our last event.
Follow Brash Young Turks twitter: @BrashYoungTurks
Follow Big Picture Film Club on Twitter: @BigPicFilmClub

The post Naeem Mahmood: The Man Behind The Camera appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

The post Big Picture Film Club presents NIGHT BUS – Thurs 23rd July – Genesis appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

Set entirely on a London night bus during one journey, on one night, Night Bus is an intimate, poignant and often funny portrait of London’s characters of the night.

The Night Bus is populated by a variety of characters – the drunks and revellers, workers on the late shift, young and old, introvert and extrovert, lovers and fighters. This is about their journey, how they make it through the night, relationships end and relationships begin, but whatever happens, the bus continues to its destination.

The film has already garnered much acclaim on the festival circuit, most notably winning “Best Feature” and “Best Director” at the 2015 British Independent Film Festival.

Night Bus will be screened at Genesis Cinema on Thursday 23rd July. Screening starts at 7pm.

https://vimeo.com/75251557

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The post The Big Picture Film Club Launches With Night Bus appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.