Jessie Anthony wrote, directed and produced Brother, I Cry, which had its world premier at this year鈥檚 virtual Vancouver International Film Fest, Sept. 24 - Oct. 7. VIFF awarded Anthony with the festival鈥檚 B.C. Emerging Filmmaker Award. The following interview has been edited for brevity and to avoid spoilers.
Zo毛 Ducklow: How did you get into filmmaking?
Jessie Anthony: I always knew I wanted to be a storyteller since I was young. I was always dramatic, always pretending something. When I looked for summer jobs, they never had jobs in theatre. They were jobs at a gas station or something like that. So I had people in my community wrote proposals and we鈥檇 put theatre camps together, or March break camp. I went to school for performing arts [and later was] accepted to Vancouver Film School鈥檚 acting program. The whole time, I saw a need for more Indigenous voices in filmmaking. Then I was accepted to Capilano鈥檚 Indigenous Filmmaking program.
And you won the B.C. Emerging Filmmaker Award from VIFF with your first feature.
I鈥檓 still so over the moon on that one. I called my mom when I found out and cried, and said, I just remember being a little rez girl saying, I wanna make movies. I wanna be in movies. I鈥檓 gonna do this and I鈥檓 gonna do that. And then to be recognized for it, it does something to you. Comments I鈥檓 getting from home too, people saying, 鈥測ou always said you were going to do this!鈥� So it鈥檚 quite an honour.
How did the story of Brother, I Cry come to you?
I had a dream where my brother had a overdose and his spirit came to me and told me, 鈥淚鈥檓 scared, I don鈥檛 know where I am, I need you to find me.鈥� In my dream I went searching, and in reality, I know where all these drug house were because I鈥檝e either dropped him off or picked him up there. So I was travelling through my dream trying to find him.
When I woke up I had this overwhelming feeling that this was going to be my reality, and that I needed to do something about it. That became my final short film [for the Capilano graduation project].
Nothing I do is going to save him, he needs to want to do it himself. But maybe if I show him my fears, it might make a difference. Or it might make a difference to someone else.
Have you talked to your brother about the film?
Yes. He very much knows my thoughts. We鈥檝e worked very hard to be where we are in our relationship with his addiction. I鈥檝e called him and read a scene to him and said, is this how it works? I know definitely called him and said, how do I steal a car? And he鈥檚 like, 鈥渢his is how you鈥檇 steal a car,鈥� you know.
But he also knows that the story is a collection of people. He鈥檚 the inspiration, and there鈥檚 a lot of influence there, but I also wrote from my experience dating someone who was addicted to crack cocaine. I wrote based on things that have happened all around me. All those characters have pieces of my personal trauma.
You鈥檝e mentioned before that there鈥檚 a need for more positive, empowering Indigenous stories to be told, but also that you wanted to tell this story because it鈥檚 how it is on your rez when you go home.
I was nervous that people would take it the wrong way, but at the same time, it鈥檚 truth and I鈥檓 coming at this from a place of love. I want people to have a conversation. I want people to know they鈥檙e not alone. I want families to know that that frustration, I feel it too.
And that鈥檚 not a race thing, that鈥檚 not just an Indigenous thing, that鈥檚 a universal thing.
And I get it, there鈥檚 a need for those empowering stories. There is so much beauty and so much power in our stories. So you do have, as an artist, space to tell that truth. But I don鈥檛 know, I just felt I needed to tell that story. And it is being told from an Indigenous perspective, so I think it鈥檚 been told with a lot of respect.
Jon does this thing where he lights a cigarette from the toaster. It seems so much harder than just using a lighter.
Well that鈥檚 just it, he鈥檚 always loosing his lighter. It鈥檚 very common in my family, people smoke, and a lot of times you鈥檙e not allowed to smoke in the house. Even if they might find the lighter or go get one, that was just the easiest thing to do.
With [Jon], it鈥檚 a small subtle thing that he doesn鈥檛 listen, he doesn鈥檛 even listen to a simple house rule.
It was striking how each character clearly had their own backstory, their own way of responding to pain, and to Jon鈥檚 addiction.
I hope I communicated inter-generational trauma without being like, 鈥淭his is inter-generational trauma! This is residential schools!鈥� I didn鈥檛 want to do that, I wanted to bring people in and use the camera. I tried to put the camera like a fly on the wall to get glimpse of that cycle, and be invasive, and move with the family because that鈥檚 what the trauma does.
Like there鈥檚 that one scene in the kitchen where you鈥檙e in the corner, we鈥檙e in the corner watching, and you see the living room, the front door, the rest of the kitchen. Those three different spaces and the family is moving through them, and it鈥檚 like, that literally is how trauma is. It鈥檚 sitting in the corner watching us trying to figure it out.
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Without giving away the ending, this film really doesn鈥檛 give viewers any way out, it doesn鈥檛 make us comfortable.
Yeah, this is my fear. The movie is my fear for my brother.
And I鈥檝e gotten texts from people, days after they watched saying, 鈥淲e鈥檙e still cracking ourselves open. Thank you, because you鈥檝e allowed me to grieve for our people.鈥� Grief that she didn鈥檛 even know that was in here that started to move. Some of the comments I鈥檝e been getting and the personal stories, I鈥檓 so grateful people have found that connection for themselves.
It takes a certain kind of bravery to make a film like this about issues that are still live for you. Like, this isn鈥檛 something that resolved and you鈥檝e had time to reflect on.
No. He鈥檚 still very much a functioning addict. That鈥檚 another thing, I didn鈥檛 want to show a typical addict, I wanted to show a functioning 鈥� two functioning addicts 鈥� like Leah, she鈥檚 on methadone. Let鈥檚 talk about that. Oh you鈥檙e pregnant and on methadone? That鈥檚 something we鈥檝e had to go through. And the shame and embarrassment that comes with that. Let鈥檚 get rid of those stigmas first.
I don鈥檛 know the answers. I don鈥檛 know any of the answers. All I know is I needed to bring up a conversation and say I love my brother and I don鈥檛 want him to die but this is the reality.
Do you have something to add to this story or something else we should report on? Email: zoe.ducklow@blackpress.ca
