The new feature-length film, “Harriet,” starring Cynthia Erivo, is set for release in theaters Nov. 1 by Focus Features. And it’s directed by none other than native St. Louisan Kasi Lemmons, our March 2019 “Gazelle in Our Midst.”
Beginning as an actress – and a writer – Lemmons found a place behind the camera after realizing that directing was a way of bringing those two passions together.
“Harriet” was written by Lemmons and Gregory Allen Howard, and is the first film focusing on Harriet Tubman, famed African American woman and abolitionist, who led dozens of people to freedom.
“It is my kind of application of African American history. It tells more of Harriett’s story than the image we usually have of her. She was fierce, powerful and tiny,” Lemmons said. “I like stories about black people. I like stories about women. And I think there is a hunger and demand for African American stories.
“And with this movie, there was a lot of collaboration, which is my favorite part of the process,” she added.
Lemmons’ directing debut came in 1997 with “Eve’s Bayou.” After writing the script, she started looking for a director to take it to the screen.
“Then I woke up,” Lemmons said. “I thought, ‘I don’t want it to be interpreted differently. I want to direct it.’”
The resulting production, starring Samuel L. Jackson, had positive reviews, and Lemmons received a number of awards, including the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature. “The Caveman’s Valentine,” also with Jackson, followed, as did “Talk to Me” with Don Cheadle. In 2013, she adapted and directed “Black Nativity,” starring Academy Award winners Forest Whitaker and Jennifer Hudson, and Academy Award nominee Angela Bassett.
Most recently, she directed multiple episodes for “Madam C.J. Walker,” a Netflix limited series starring Octavia Spencer and Tiffany Haddish, set for release in 2020.
Some of her most notable acting gigs were in films like “Silence of the Lambs,” “School Daze,” directed by Spike Lee, and horror film, “Candyman.”
“I am a filmmaker first, but in many ways, I think of myself as a writer,” she said. “But all of my films and projects mean something to me.”
Opera Theatre St. Louis and Jazz St. Louis co-commissioned Lemmons to write the libretto for “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” that premiered at OTSL on June 15.
She has played with the libretto form on her own before, but this was the first that she has formally written, especially one adapted from an existing book. Though there were challenges, there were similarities to many screenplays she has written.
“The challenge of figuring out how to get dramatic effect and move the protagonist along was fun,” she said. “And an opera is a little more free-flowing than a movie.”
Lemmons also teaches filmmaking and directing at New York University, because for her, it’s a passion to pass on her knowledge and craft.
She is married to actor Vondie Curtis-Hall.
