St. Cloud
State Interview
B. Nance (BN) Reporter
Kiersten Chace (KC) Mondé World Films
BN: Tell us a little bit about the film.
KC: I'm Not Black, I'm Coloured is an
historical documentary about the Cape
Coloured community in the Western Cape
Province of South Africa. It spans 350
years of history and it focuses on the
intergenerational struggle for identity.
BN: When did you first hear about the
Coloured people of South Africa?
KC: In 1995, I was privileged to help
produce the first US concert tour for
the popular vocal group the Christian
Explainers (from Cape Town). A young
woman in the group said to me one night
"Kiersten, I have a secret and you must
not tell anyone that I have discussed
this with you. Promise me." This
concerned me at first and all sorts of
thoughts were going through my head at
the time. Then she continued to say....
"I am not a Black South African. In my
country I am considered a Coloured". My
first reaction, like most Americans, was
the word 'Colored'. This is a very
negative term in the U.S. However, I did
not make judgment and listened with
great interest for hours and hours about
her upbringing and culture. It was at
this moment when I began to research the
history (of which there was little of)
and eventually became actively involved
in Coloured townships across South
Africa.
BN: What motivated you to produce this
film?
KC: In 2004, ten years post apartheid, I
organized another ministry group to Cape
Town. (this would have been my 7th group
to SA since 1996) It was during this
visit, that I could see for myself that
very little had changed in the Coloured
communities in Cape Town. A community
quickly deteriorating physically and
morally. This concerned me greatly and
decided then that someone had to step up
to the plate and educate those outside
of South Africa so that when they visit,
invest or donate to South Africa, that
they will know that Coloured communities
need help too. The most effective way to
reach this goal was to produce a film
and encourage colleges around the US and
Canada to include the history of the
Coloured people into their South Africa
history curriculum.
BN: How did you choose the title of this
film?
KC: I had two other titles in mind for
the film. One night while
screening the film to some top
filmmakers, one of them said "I'm Not
Black, I'm Coloured. I heard this stated
several times in the film". This
resonated with me as it was also the
statement the young woman in 1995 said
to me during the concert tour. It's
pretty clear in the film, the cast
members don't harbor ill feelings
towards blacks, nor do they mind being
called black, but society, government,
and job opportunities still tend to
define or see them as Coloured. As
expressed in the film by cast members
many feel they are not black enough in
today's society and of course during
Apartheid they were not white enough. I
did approach key cast members with this
new film title and they said that it
definitely reflected the feeling of a
lot of Capetonians. Not all Capetonians,
but many feel this way.
BN: One of the highlights, yet most
controversial, of the film is the DNA
results segment towards the end of the
film. Tell me about your decision to
include this in the documentary.
KC: I had so many decisions to make. For
example, making certain the film was not
divisive, that it did not present
typical stereotypes and that there was
no American analysis. But, the biggest
decision I had to make was the DNA
Ancestry segment. First of all, it is
important to note that when I first
wrote the business plan for the film
project, DNA was not even a thought.
When Mr. Greenspan (Founder of Family
Tree DNA) heard about the film and the
lack of genealogical/ancestral records
and lack of oral history, he genuinely
wanted to help the community. He offered
to donate 30 tests to the film. Before I
agreed to this generous gift, I asked
each and every cast member these two
questions: 1. Would this project be of
interest to you personally? 2. Would
this be something that people in your
community would be interested in. I was
very sensitive to this idea of testing
people and wanted this to be the cast
members decision, not mine. To my
surprise they were very interested in
participating. Each participant signed
release forms for both the film and for
the DNA project. We further protected
our cast members by only revealing ONE
side of their ancestral lineage in the
film. Not all cast members participated
in the DNA project and was not required.
BN: What testing company was used for
the DNA tests?
KC: Family Tree DNA is based in Houston,
Texas and is the first and largest DNA
Ancestry Database company in the world.
It is the same company that National
Geographic uses for their Genographic
Project, and also Henry Louis Gates Jr
(Oprah Winfrey's Genealogist).
BN: Is this a for-profit testing
company?
KC: The testing labs are obviously
for-profit as they must pay their
scientists and maintain state-of-the-art
laboratory facilities. However, the
administrative side of the project
including genetic genealogists who
analyze/interpret the test results are all
volunteer.
BN: Who paid for the tests?
KC: Family Tree DNA's CEO/Founder,
Bennett Greenspan, donated 30 tests
(approx. $3000usd) to our cast and crew
to help the community learn of their
ancestry.
BN: How do you feel about this
technology?
KC: Personally I have mixed feelings
about this technology. I think it is
great that science is on this path of
ancestral exploration. It is a safe and
secure way to take a peek into one's
ancient ancestry. But in the case of the
Coloured people and their current
situation, this technology could further
divide a community if used for
non-genealogical purposes. However, for
those wanting a glimpse into their
ancient ancestry and who love genealogy,
it is a great technology. While
the DNA Ancestry site still exists I do
not actively promote it. If someone
really wants to know their DNA roots I
will send them to our genetic DNA
experts.
This film provides an excellent
opportunity for classrooms to discuss
the whole question of DNA, genealogy,
ancestry and identity.
BN: Have you personally tested?
KC: Yes. My sister, a genetic
genealogist, has successfully tested all
four sides of our family. My mothers
maternal and paternal line and my
fathers maternal and paternal line. The
results were very surprising and goes to
prove that we are not who we think we
are. I am 1/4 Native American, 1/4
Scottish, 1/4 Ashkanazi Jew/Middle East
and I can't remember the other right off
hand.
BN: How long did this film take to
produce?
KC: From the moment I decided to take on
this project until the release, it was
approximately a year and a half. We only
had nine days to shoot on location in
Cape Town with 22 interviews and about
20 locations including Cape Town,
Atlantis, Manenberg, Clarke's Estate,
Camps Bay and other areas. Editing took
about 6 months. We released the film in
February 2009.
BN: How has the Coloured community
received your film?
KC: Many Coloured South Africans
and ex-pats have screened this film whether in a
classroom or ordering it online. The
majority are from Australia, South
Africa, New Zealand and England. I get
emails weekly from across the globe from
young South Africans who thanked us for
telling the history. I suppose if you
read the testimonies you will get an
idea of what South Africans think.
There are a few people here in Minnesota
who have been critical of the film even
though they have not seen the film.
Mainly due to the title of the film, but
many don't read the sub-title "Identity
Crisis at the Cape of Good Hope", make
assumptions and won't see the film. However, I also know that
many no longer desire to use the term
Coloured and I totally respect this and
understand where they are coming from.
And I actually agree with this... it's
time to stop labeling people. However,
this does not mean that one should be
ashamed of their heritage or roots. Everyone has the right to choose how
they want to be identified. I never
expected everyone to agree with the
film, but I did expect people to 'talk'
and 'dialog' about the issues.
BN: Why are there no counterpoints?
KC: Ten 10 years ago when meeting with
community leaders in Kimberley South
Africa and in Cape Town they stated that
their opinions and their voice was
looked down upon in government circles
and at times laughed at and belittled.
This is a common statement that I have
heard for 14 years. So it was important
to create a 'safe space' for our cast to
share their stories and feelings without
criticism. So if there was anything
negative to be said about the community
it would be the cast members themselves,
not someone from someone else. And
they definitely express their
shortcomings as a community in the film,
but it came from them, not myself or
anyone else. Also one of my
goals was to make sure that there was no
American interjection or analysis in the
film. This was important to me. I truly
tried to be as sensitive as possible.
BN: Why do you only focus on Cape Town?
KC: As a producer and director I had to
consider my audience and how best to
present this complex topic in a way that
would not be overwhelming. You see, in
America, very few people know that
Coloured people exist in South Africa.
They have only heard about the
Black/White struggle. So given the fact
that I have less than 80 minutes to
present 350 years of history, I made the
decision to focus on one area, the
birthplace of the Coloured community,
Cape Town, and allow the audience to
research more about the subject. Maybe I
will have to do another film?
www.cuttothechace.com |
