Filmmaker Alrick Brown's feature directorial debut started out with a relatively straightforward plot, illustrating the true story of a priest and an imam working together to save lives during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. But then the Plainfield native and the rest of the crew of "Kinyarwanda," currently in post-production pending a 2011 film-festival tour and release, started listening to some of the people who actually lived through the slaughter of an estimated 800,000 people. "I got there (to Rwanda) and started hearing so many amazing stories about life, like regular kids who had a crush on someone when the war broke out, or people who had to pick sides within their families," Brown said. "I said, "the movie is going to be about those things (instead)."' It was the defining factor that turned the film into six separate narratives, all with roots in real-life events, that ultimately weave into one story in a style similar to that of contemporary classics like "Pulp Fiction" or "Amores Perros," Brown said.
Sierra Leone RPCV Alrick Brown puts finishing touches on feature directorial debut about the true story of a priest and an imam working together to save lives during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.
Plainfield filmmaker putting finishing touches on feature directorial debut
By MARK SPIVEY • STAFF WRITER •
October 31, 2010
PLAINFIELD - Filmmaker Alrick Brown's feature directorial debut started out with a relatively straightforward plot, illustrating the true story of a priest and an imam working together to save lives during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.
But then the Plainfield native and the rest of the crew of "Kinyarwanda," currently in post-production pending a 2011 film-festival tour and release, started listening to some of the people who actually lived through the slaughter of an estimated 800,000 people.
"I got there (to Rwanda) and started hearing so many amazing stories about life, like regular kids who had a crush on someone when the war broke out, or people who had to pick sides within their families," Brown said. "I said, "the movie is going to be about those things (instead)."'
It was the defining factor that turned the film into six separate narratives, all with roots in real-life events, that ultimately weave into one story in a style similar to that of contemporary classics like "Pulp Fiction" or "Amores Perros," Brown said.
A BUDDING STAR
The style also seems to sum up the career of Brown, the 34-year-old Plainfield High School graduate whose success as an independent filmmaker may be ready to spill over into the mainstream. Brown's work has screened in more than 40 film festivals across the globe, receiving several awards, but he seems as comfortable working on a large film project as he did managing the one he took on last summer, when he directed a community theater production of "A Raisin in the Sun" at the
city YWCA.
"I grew up here," Brown explained. "My mother is still here. I'm finishing editing (Kinyarwanda) here now, in my mom's basement."
Brown, who was born in Jamaica before moving to Plainfield as a young boy, has written, directed, and produced short narrative films and documentaries focusing on a variety of social issues. The graduate of the prestigious New York University film program and a colleague earlier this decade received HBO's Life Through Your Lens Emerging Filmmaker Award, the winnings of which were used to produce their critically acclaimed documentary "Death of Two Sons," which told the stories of Amadou Diallo and Jesse Thyne. Diallo died in a high-profile 1999 incident in which four New York City police officers shot him to death on his own doorstep in a case of mistaken identity, while Thyne, an American Peace Corps volunteer who lived and worked with Diallo's family in his home village in Africa, died in a car accident there.
The idea for Kinyarwanda, Brown explained, first was conceived by Ishmael Ntihabose, who is making his feature debut as an executive producer. Brown said he and Ntihabose had been kicking around ideas for a movie for more than three years when the latter landed a grant that would cover most of the budget for what is believed to be the first major full-length film initiated by a Rwandan.
"He asked me for some help, because I had been giving him advice for a while," Brown explained. "I thought his script was rather weak ... so I told him, "let me write a script.' I put one together in a few weeks, and it one of those rare occasions where the money already was in place."
SHARING THE JOURNEY
Filming with a cast of 90 percent native Rwandans, many of whom never acted before, took 16 days, although the crew spent four months in Africa working on the movie. Brown said he currently is nearly finished editing while also seeking a distributor, and while the film still is months away from an official debut, buzz already is growing at a steady clip: Kinyarwanda's Facebook page currently has more than 2,000 fans.
"The mission is to get it into as many 2011 festivals as possible to build up a base of support," Brown said, singling out the annual Sundance Film Festival, a breeding grounds for indie hits during recent years, as being high on his wish list. "We've got a lot of accolades so far from previews and clips ... and I think the potential for momentum to build is
really there."
Some of the first people scheduled to see polished clips from the movie were middle-school student participants in Plainfield PAL (Police Athletic League) Youth Exposure, a city youth group. Brown was slated as the first featured speaker in the group's new "Plainfield's Promise" series, a lineup of speaking engagements created to give local students encouragement to achieve their goals by highlighting the success stories of local adults.
But Saturday's scheduled appearance at Washington Community School was to mark the second time Brown spoke to students here, according to City Council President Annie McWilliams, an active volunteer with the organization.
"Our goal is to bring in positive speakers, and as many from Plainfield as we possibly can," McWilliams said. "We want to show (students) that if he can do it, they can do it ... and something I think we need to do as a city is support him (Brown)."
"It's a real honor," Brown said of the appearance. "I'm going to talk about my own journey, and I figured the best way to share my success model was to show kids that Rwanda's not really so far away."
