‘I do think as
i lmmakers it’s our job to rel ect the times we’re in’
time where it has its i rst female president. We are now, after all these years, sitting in a period where we have only our second female prime minister. We’ve just voted for Brexit. These are highly politicised times. And I do think as i lmmakers it’s our job to rel ect the times we’re in.’
Then
there’s that perennial question of diversity. With the British Film Institute about to kick off Black Star, a three-month long season of black-themed movies, Asante admits that things are changing in the i lm industry – albeit slowly. ‘I dei nitely think we’re getting to a time where we’re becoming more comfortable with people of colour being at the centre of their own stories. They’re not being bystanders or the
A UNITED KINGDOM
supporting artists, but being at the centre of their own narrative.’ Asante is next lining up Where Hands Touch – a romantic drama set in 1944 Berlin about a mixed-race German girl and an SS ofi cer. She makes no apologies that it’s another period piece – well-aware that she’s not in a position to fully dictate her choices after just three movies. ‘I still have some stripes to earn in many ways.’ But, she hopes, black i lmmaking isn’t going to be restricted to true-life period tales. ‘Who knows?’ she says, ‘one day [maybe we’ll see] a futuristic story with an all black cast.’
A United Kingdom opens on Fri 25 Nov. See review, page 88.
own upbringing, however. While A United Kingdom has been a mooted project for over six years, its title feels somewhat provocative in these post-Brexit times. ‘I loved the irony that actually we’re not talking about Britain,’ she laughs. True enough – the title obviously refers to Seretse’s Bechuanaland, rather than the currently divided UK – but there’s no question the i lm has contemporary meaning. ‘Rel ecting [on the past] sometimes has a really major impact on now,’ she says, ‘and what we do going forward.’ According to Asante, there’s ‘something in the air’ and it’s not just Britain that’s facing instability. ‘If you think about America, it’s just coming out of a period where it’s had its i rst black president. It might be about to go into a
N BELLE 3 Nov 2016–31 Jan 2017 THE LIST 57