Arts & Entertainment
Amma Asante: The ‘Belle’ Interview
Writer/director Amma Asante made an
unusual entry into filmmaking. As a child,
she attended the Barbara Speake stage
school in London, where she trained as a
student in dance and drama.
She began a television career as a child
actress, appearing as a regular in the popu-
lar British school drama “Grange Hill.” She
fronted the ‘Just Say No” campaign of the
1980s and was one of nine “Grange
Hill” children to take it to the Reagan White
House. Amma went on to gain credits in
other British television series including
“Desmond’s” and “Birds of a Feather,” and
was a Children’s Channel presenter for a
year.
In her late teens, Amma left the world of
acting and made the move to screenwriting
with a development deal from Chrysalis.
Two series of the urban drama “Brothers
and Sisters” followed which she wrote and
produced for the BBC.
Amma’s made her feature film directorial
debut in 2004 with A Way of Life which
won her 17 international awards including
The BFI London Film Festival’s inaugural
Alfred Dunhill UK Film Talent Award, cre-
ated to recognize the achievements of a new
People of color were
generally used as
accessories in
paintings. We were
there to express the
status of the main
subject of the canvas.
or emerging British writer/director who has
shown great skill and imagination in bring-
ing
originality
and
verve
to
filmmaking. Additionally Asante collected
The Times ‘Breakthrough Artist of the
Year’ at the prestigious South Bank
Show Awards for writing and directing the
film.
At the BAFTA Film Awards in February
2005, Asante received the BAFTA Carl
Foreman Award for Special Achievement
by a Writer/Director in a Debut Film. On
the same night, she scored a double triumph
at the 2005 Miami International Film Festi-
val, winning the award for ‘Best Dramatic
Feature in World Cinema’ and the
FIPRESCI (International Federation of
Film Critics) prize for ‘Best Feature Film.’
Amma was born in London in 1969 and is
married to Soren Kragh Pedersen, the
Europol Chief of Media and Public Rela-
tions. Here, she talks about her new film,
Belle, a fact-based, historical drama starring
Gugu Mbatha-Raw about the daughter of an
African slave and a British ship captain who
was raised in England as an aristocrat.
Kam Williams: Hi Amma. I’m honored
to have this opportunity.
Amma Asante: Thank you very much,
Kam. It’s my pleasure.
KW: I told my readers I’d be speaking
with you, so I’ll be mixing in their questions
with some of my own.
AA: Okay, cool.
KW: Children’s book author Irene Smalls
asks: Where did you find this story and
what motivated you to turn it into a movie?
AA: Well, the story comes from the paint-
ing that emerges at the end of the film.
My producer [Damian Jones] sent me a
postcard of the picture. I knew immediately
that this was an unusual painting and that
there was something very special about it,
because I had recently been to an art exhibi-
C ELEBRITY
I NTERVIEW
by Kam
Williams
tion in Amsterdam that was looking at the
history of people of color in art from the
14th Century. What I learned from the
show, without knowing that this postcard
was ever going to fall into my lap, was that
people of color were generally used as
accessories in paintings. We were there to
express the status of the main subject of the
canvas. We’d always be positioned lower
than and looking up in awe at the protago-
nist and never looking out at the painter. But
in this postcard, everything was the oppo-
site. There was Dido Belle staring out at the
painter, positioned slightly higher than Eliz-
abeth [her white cousin] whose arm was
reaching out to Dido, and thereby drawing
your eyes towards Dido. So, I saw an oppor-
tunity to create a story that would be a
combination of race, politics, art and histo-
ry. And it went from there, with lots and lots
of research.
KW: I don’t agree with the assumption of
Irene’s next question. Why did you focus on
the love story instead of the historical sig-
nificance?
AA: I disagree with her as well. I think
the historical significance was to bring the
two people in the love story together. What
I tried to do was to use the legal case of the
Zong Massacre and the painting itself as
tools to explore Dido Elizabeth Belle’s jour-
ney. They feed into her being able to find
her voice and into her coming to a place
where she experiences self-love. So, I
would say that that’s at the center of the
film, the love story between Dido and her-
self. Everything else kind of sits around that
idea of a young woman coming into her
own.
Amma Asante
AA: Oh, that’s nice of her to say. It was
important to me for the cast to feel safe in
my hands. I was very open to collaborating
with them, but they also knew that I had a
very, very strong vision for this story that I
wanted to tell.
KW: She goes on to say: Given that I
speak French, I am curious to know where
the French last name of Dido Elizabeth
Belle comes from?
AA: Dido was born to a West African
woman who was sold into slavery. I named
the film Belle to honor both Dido and her
mother, Maria. But we don’t know how she
came to have the surname Belle.
KW: Patricia says: I saw the movie
in Quebec in English but I hope the movie
will be translated soon into French and
other languages to allow the Francophony
and other cultures to discover it.
AA: Absolutely! The film has been trans-
lated ad is being released in France in a few
months’ time.
KW: Patricia also asks: Why do you think
that the story of Belle remained unknown,
despite the painting of her?
AA: That’s a very interesting question.
I’m 44 years-old now, and I grew up not
knowing anything about it. But young girls
and boys in England today are being taught
about Dido Belle. You can read about ele-
ments of her life in various books that have
been published. What there wasn’t until our
film was the quintessential story that pieced
together Dido’s life. Since the film does
See CELEBRITY on page 11
KW: Irene was also wondering whether
there might be a sequel in the works.
AA: [Chuckles] No, there isn’t. I feel like
this painting fell into my lap because this
story needed to be told by me. I believe I
was blessed to have the opportunity to be
able put this story together and bring it to
the screen. But I feel that my role is com-
pleted now, and I’d have to leave a sequel to
someone else.
I think feature films are
about the confidence
you have in bringing
your vision to fruition
KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier says: I
was very impressed that this elaborate cos-
tume drama/historical biopic was just your
second feature film.
AA: Thank you, Patricia. I knew that I
wanted my second film to be big and lush
and important, and that I wanted it to make
a statement. That’s why it took those eight
years to get from my first to my second fea-
ture. I always knew I had it in me. I just had
to persuade the financiers as well. I think
feature films are about the confidence you
have in bringing your vision to fruition.
KW: When I interviewed Gugu, she gave
me the idea that you definitely had a vision
of what you were trying to achieve, and also
that she felt very comfortable in your hands.
May 28, 2014 The Portland and Seattle Skanner Page 7