Feminism is...
INTERVIEWS
INTERVIEWS: b-girl
Donald Hutera interviews the makers of the cult movie B-Girl.
This fab interview has been reprinted by kind permish of worldwidedanceuk.com
HOW DID THE FILM COME ABOUT?
Elizabeth: The Sisterz of the Underground, an all b-girl crew, were performing at the San Fran Mission Street Fair and we loved it.
Emily: It was an image I couldn't get out of my head... seeing breaking and seeing girls do it. So after we moved to LA we started thinking about maybe doing a break music video or something. We saw just how amazing this whole world was and decided to make a b-girl movie.
HOW DID YOU TURN THIS INSPIRATION INTO AN ACTUAL FILM?
Emily: One of the things that really came out in interviews with b-boys and b-girls was the level of intensity they brought to breaking. The amount of time they practice. They could be dancing for the Bolshoi Ballet in that amount of time! And yet our culture doesn't give them money or recognition.
It isn't about money anyway, it's about props from the community.
Elizabeth: The words in the movie are literally the words of b-girls. We met Jules [cast as Angel] very early-on and really hit it off. She was very down with the project and she's an actress, so it was a perfect match.
WHAT IS YOUR INTEREST IN HIP HOP?
Emily: Hip hop is now a life-long thing. I only came to hip hop when I was in college, so everything to me is still new. But I am discovering and trying to learn the history and soak everything up.
WAS IT HARD TO FINANCE THE FILM?
Elizabeth: Yes! Movies are very expensive. But we got non-profit status, which meant that every donation to the film was totally tax-deductible. We got a lot of small donations from family and friends, a lot of equipment donations and everyone worked for free. It's really amazing that we were able to do it at all. So many people just came together and believed in the project...
Emily: It took about a full year from start to finish to make.
HOW ARE PLANS FOR EXPANDING IT INTO A FEATURE FILM FARING?
Elizabeth: Good! We've been lucky enough to play in film festivals all over the world, so B-Girl is really getting out there. But it's slow convincing Hollywood that hip hop is not a ‘risky' idea for a movie.
Emily: Hip hop is part of our whole culture, not just for young people or in cities, and it would be great if we could start seeing films that respect that. I would love to see more movies that aren't even totally about hiphop, but just have a background of it.
IS AMERICA CRAWLING WITH B-GIRLS READY TO LEAP AND SPIN INTO THE LIMELIGHT?
Emily: There's a growing force of female hop hop heads out there, both as b-girls and in all the other elements. Women in hiphop are still in the minority and any cypher ( breaking or MCing circle ) is still usually 75% male. So you feel the pressure to bring it twice as strong and good as the men.
Elizabeth: But the growing force of women in hip hop is also serving to shift the ideas you see coming out of hip hop. Like women are starting to say that they don't just want to hear songs about 'bitches & ho's' or see pictures of women wearing practically nothing in Source or Jointz.**
See trailers and film stuff about B-GIRL at www.bgirlmovie.com
**Source and Jointz, Emily explains, ‘are two big hip hop magazines in the States oriented towards big-budget rappers and that world of money, bling, flashy cars and lots of women. All the women are barely clothed, and so to me it represents the things I think are wrong with hip hop. However, I know there are people working to change these magazines and images from the inside, so I don't want to totally hate on them.
