2019-11-13 The Hollywood Reporter

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 92 NOVEMBER 13, 2019

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n June, director Melina Matsoukas, known for helming music

videos for top talent like Beyoncé, became the first woman of color

to receive the American Film Institute’s Franklin J. Schaffner

Alumni Medal (she’s from the class of 2005). On Nov. 14, she’ll reunite

with her alma mater when Queen & Slim opens AFI Fest. The film stars

Jodie Turner-Smith and Daniel Kaluuya as a couple who are forced to

go on the run after a police officer is shot in an act of self-defense.

Universal and Brad Weston’s Makeready are opening the $20 million

drama in theaters Nov. 27. Matsoukas, 38, says one of her reasons for

directing the film is Sandra Bland, an African American woman who

became a symbol of the Black Lives Matter movement after she was

pulled over in a pretextual traffic stop and died in jail three days later.

Your film has been called a modern-

day Bonnie and Clyde. What do you

think of that comparison?

It’s a diminishing way to describe

our film, and a lazy way to under-

stand it. I don’t like basing black

films on any white archetype.

Bonnie and Clyde were criminals;

Queen and Slim are very much

not. They are two people that are

portraiture of black people and

black skin and also the culture

and the community. It’s very

much underrated. I also love for-

eign films. One that I kept going

back to was Y Tu Mamá También.

It’s a wonderful road movie.

I’ve read that you were once pulled

over for no apparent reason.

I was home visiting my family

in New Jersey and was

in a nice car that had

out-of-state plates. I was

pulled over because I was

profiled. It’s a terrifying

experience that many

people of color can relate to. It’s

also an energizing one when you

know you’re in the right. I stuck

up for who I was. In that moment,

I called my mother because I was

so upset with this cop. She was

Lena Waithe (right, with Matsoukas) wrote

the script for Queen & Slim.

AFI FEST’S AWARDS-FRIENDLY OFFERINGS

← RICHARD JEWELL

Clint Eastwood’s latest

directorial effort, centered

on the bombing at the 1996

Atlanta Olympics, debuts

Nov. 20.

‘ We’re Kicking Down the Doors’

Queen & Slim helmer Melina Matsoukas

on pushing culture forward By Pamela McClintock

very fearful. Many black mothers

fear for their children’s lives every

time they step out the door in the

world that we live in.

How did that experience inform

your decision to direct this film?

That experience came to mind,

and very much Sandra Bland’s

experience. I watched so much

footage of black people being

pulled over by cops, and Sandra

Bland was one that I watched

repeatedly. I saw so much of

myself in her experience. Like me,

she could be any black woman on

any day. She was standing up for

herself and she was furious at the

time. He was blinded by her black-

ness and couldn’t stand for that.

What is it like to be a black woman

directing in Hollywood in 2019?

We’re kicking the doors down and

we’re making people pay atten-

tion. I think everybody wants to

be a part of pushing the culture

forward and creating change.

We’re making strides and sup-

porting each other. We’re making

it difficult for people to ignore us.

A big part of the problem is that

the conversation of diversity only

comes up when it is people like

me. It’s unfair to put that

burden on other people

of color. It needs to be a

pattern that takes place

within every studio and

every crew and every film

set and every TV set. It shouldn’t

only be on people of color to hire

people of color.

Interview has been edited for length

and clarity.

PETER MORGAN

The Crown creator will be

feted with a Q&A, followed

by a screening of the third-

season opener of the Netflix

royal drama Nov. 16.

THE BANKER

Apple TV+ enters the awards

race with the Anthony

Mackie and Samuel L.

Jackson starrer, which

closes the fest Nov. 21.

→ INDIE STANDOUTS

THR’s Scott Feinberg will

moderate a panel with eight

stars of indie films, from

Awkwafina to Sterling K.

Brown, on Nov. 17.

brought together by this shared

experience and they are fighting

for their lives. And they fall in

love throughout the story. It is a

very singular experience.

What movies did inspire you?

I looked to many. Belly is always

one of my favorite references of

all time, in terms of lighting and

AFI Fest

Nov. 14-21

TCL Chinese

Theatre