To me, not every black filmmaker who is making black films is trying to make black cinema.
Arthur JafaI remember when someone told me phones were going to have cameras on them, and I thought that was the dumbest idea I'd ever heard. Why would you want a camera on your phone? But as we see the impact of it, it has allowed for a mass verification of what black people have been saying.
Arthur JafaI've pushed myself to push toward things that disturb me. I've developed a habit of recording these things because these things often disappear.
Arthur JafaI have a very simple mantra and it's this: I want to make black cinema with the power, beauty, and alienation of black music. That's my big goal. The larger preoccupation is how do we force cinema to respond to the existential, political, and spiritual dimensions of who we are as a people.
Arthur Jafa