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<\/a>\u201cThe idea was to look at a broader scope of racism in North America,\u201d says Officer. \u201cBecause we are Torontonians, we wanted to focus on a community in the city where we grew up, particularly a black community that we are familiar with. A lot of the media and everything really focuses on things that are happening in the United States and we don\u2019t deal with our [issues] here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Officer says that residents of Victoria and Vancouver should be able to relate to the housing crisis shown in this film. However, due to our social dynamics here, it\u2019s less likely to be a reflection of racism.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople from Toronto Community Housing are becoming completely disenfranchised and have no voice,\u201d says Officer, \u201cbut the whole idea about developers and housing and the market and the basic things that we need to survive in our society is being treated as if it is for the elite. There aren\u2019t plans that are going in place for affordable housing. It\u2019s not part of the development scheme for a lot of the developers across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Officer says he wanted to display what was happening in these communities without any preconceived notions. He listened and watched, and the story emerged on its own. The story follows a 12-year-old girl as she finds her voice though writing and performing poetry to music.<\/p>\n
\u201cI spent about a year and change in the community before I even brought a camera in there,\u201d he says. \u201cIt led us to this young girl and the youth that are in the film.\u201d<\/p>\n
If Officer were to give one piece of advice to someone starting out in filmmaking it would be to find your voice and use it. His success has come from telling the stories important to him, in a way only he could tell.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you have a film you want to make?\u201d he says. \u201cWhat is it you want to make and why? Why now? Why [are you] the best person to tell the story? Be critical of yourself and what you want to put out in this world.\u201d<\/p>\n
First-time director Daniel Leo\u2019s Man Proposes, God Disposes<\/i> will premiere this year at VFF. Leo, who lives in Vancouver, shares Officer\u2019s opinion that directing is really about using your unique thoughts and experience to tell an original story.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could make a movie about aliens or about whatever you want,\u201d says Leo, \u201cbut I think that normally, the people that succeed in their artform are the ones who do what they know how to do or something that is personal to them that maybe nobody else can express how they can.\u201d<\/p>\n
An avid world-travelling backpacker, photographer, and cinema-goer, Leo decided he wanted to put it all together and make a movie. He came up with the plot idea of an unplanned international, intercultural pregnancy. Then things started to fall into place.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just started asking friends to help me make a movie,\u201d says Leo, \u201cto act or something. I met this Polish guy in Cuba who was taking videos. He sent me a short film that had his friend acting in it, who was Polish. I asked [the actor] if he\u2019d be interested in acting and he said, \u2018Yeah.\u2019 So I knew I had a Polish guy. The Brazilian girl was a friend I met in Sao Paolo who studied acting and she said, \u2018If you come to Brazil, I have friends and we can help you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
And just like that, the 27-year-old finds himself with his directorial debut screening at VFF. And there\u2019s no better place for it, as Leo says he enjoys movies that are off the beaten path.<\/p>\n
\u201cI grew up watching mainstream films,\u201d says Leo. \u201cWhen I discovered this world of arthouse films, I was like, \u2018Wow, it\u2019s way more realistic.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n