The highly anticipated film, Harriet, premiered during opening night of Urbanworld Film Festival on Wednesday, September 18.
We spoke with producer Debra Martin Chase, director Kasi Lemmons, and Cynthia Erivo (Harriet Tubman) about the impact of the film and the importance of premiering at the 2019 Urbanworld Film Festival.
The Knockturnal: How are you feeling about presenting this film at Urbanworld?
Debra Martin Chase: “I’m so happy we’re here, but ask me after the movie screens [laughter] because this is a tough audience, and it’s a very important audience for us. We’ve had test screenings that have gone exceptionally well and I’m hopeful that tonight will be the same.”
The Knockturnal: What has been the response from the audience?
Debra Martin Chase: “Audiences have found the movie inspirational. I mean, [Harriet Tubman] is a fierce, badass woman, and we really took the approach from the beginning that this is the story of a historical action heroine. So people have responded to that. And also, this is not a movie about slavery. This is a movie about empowerment. And that was really important. As brutal and awful as slavery was—and we’re still feeling the effects of it today—we didn’t want to tell just another story about slavery. This is about a woman who was born a slave and could have stayed a slave and decided, no, not me.”
The Knockturnal: What did you learn about yourself while putting this film into motion?
Kasi Lemmons: “The lessons that I really took away from it, and that I understood about myself, had to do with tenacity and a little bit of stubbornness and irrepressibility. [I also learned] how you can use pain in your life and heartbreak to become stronger to push through the things that happened. [I also learned from] what one woman can do alone and that community and movement. We need that to happen again, we need a movement. And we need to be energized, we need to be activated, we need our own power.”
The Knockturnal: What’s your favorite scene from the movie?
Debra Martin Chase: “Probably for all of us, the scene where she crosses the Pennsylvania border to freedom was really powerful and the weather cooperated so we had this amazingly beautiful sky. And that really is the heart of the movie, right? The other one for me, which is in the trailer, is when she jumps off the bridge and says, ‘be free or die’. That was in the original script and that was like ok, I see this movie.”
Cynthia Erivo: “It’s probably the scene where she and John break up because I feel likes it’s the first time we really understand that Harriet had loved and was loved and lost it. You know? Because I think it’s really important for us to know that as a woman, she went through that and then went forward and did the things that she did. Like that’s where she started. She came back for her husband and then had to find a way to turn that all around. That’s what stuck with me the most.”
The Knockturnal: What would Harriet say to Celie?
Cynthia Erivo: “She would say that she has more strength in her than she understands and can realize, and when she is ready to show it, she has every right to.”
Harriet is set to premiere in theaters November 1. For more information, click here.
