entrevista | Kevin Fitzgerald/Filmaker
by: Matthew Hundley
CVEA:
What were your biggest challenges with this film?
Kevin:
The biggest challenge no matter what film you are making is to tell a story. My one greatest hope is that this film reflects what hip-hop really is. For me, it's about a revolutionary movement of people coming together to express their love for themselves and each other.
CVEA:
Did you find strong support within the hip-hop community for this film?
Kevin:
From day one this film was a total grassroots, collaborative effort. I have never owned a camera except for a Super-8 when I was in college. Most of the contributors and crewmembers in the film where students who lived and love hiphop. It got made in the same way that a freestyle cipher or session happens: with creative contributions from people mixing, complementing and working off of each other. Without the help of the artists in the film and their friends and sponsors, this film would have been impossible to make.
The work that we do at The Center for Hip-Hop Education is all a part of this, studying and teaching the history of hip-hop. We use the film as a catalyst to begin a dialogue with students when we show it to them in class. Empowering them to understand that the principles: (Knowledge, Wisdom, Understanding, Freedom, Justice, Equality, Peace, Unity, Love, Respect, and Work…) that Afrika Bambaataa founded with Zulu Nation continue to be real and that they have been working through hip-hop since day one. I think that the artists are interested in seeing images of them selves on screen that are real and unadulterated. I don’t think we have had much of that kind of portrayal in hip-hop as a whole and certainly not of the underground community which has been somewhat dissed and is only now just beginning to get the credit it deserves.
CVEA:
You said that hip-hop is all about people coming
together to express their love for themselves and each other. What about all the anger we hear in hip-hop lyrics?
Kevin:
The anger that people hear coming from some of the MC’s are just these individuals being honest about how they see the world around them. The negative stuff is part of human experience. You can’t look down on people for
that. They are channeling their anger into rhyming about things instead of acting it out on the physical level. It is a good thing. It’s therapy. There is also a lot of very positive, soulful and spiritual material that people are
rhyming about – which more often than not does not make it to the general public. One of my major goals with this film and my work with The Center is explore these relationships and show how the beautiful side of hip-hop looks, for all.
The root of the art form that we call hip-hop really goes back to Africa and the Griots. The word “griot” comes from the French word meaning, "to cry". The closest thing we have in traditional western culture was the town crier, or later the bluesman. In Africa, the Griots would travel around reciting the oral history of their village in song to all that would listen. They were and are very respected
within African society. People literally throw money at them when they perform.
They played an integral part in developing community identity and social ties. Hip- hop really is a reawakening of this ancient spirit. While it incorporates and creates whole new creative arts such as DJ'ing and graffiti, the freestyle MC is still basically the traveling Bard telling a story. In
Ireland, one could not be a teacher without first being a Bard. I plan to produce another musical documentary project that develops the whole historical and spiritual themes in hip-hop, especially the African connection that I was only able to touch on briefly in this film.
A point I want to make is that freestyle hip-hop doesn’t really need to be framed; it just happens and it's amazing! But why is this powerful art form so little
understood. I believe it is due to its fleeting nature, and that is what makes it so valuable. Only an honest portrayal with respect for it’s inherent freedom of
expression will work here. That’s what makes a freestyle so electrifying; you are hearing the MC's protected inner thoughts.
The center of a cipher is a beautiful place to be. You are at the point of undiluted, unedited creativity, which at its
source is really love. It is live, in the moment and can never be repeated. It might inspire you or it might scare you. Chances are that for many people who see the
film it will do both. My deepest hope is that it will bring understanding and respect from outside the hip-hop community and serve as a positive reinforcement of us
as people within.
CVEA:
How did you choose these particular artists for
inclusion in the film?
Kevin:
Most of the people in the film are friends and people I have had personal relationships with. Many are those whose work I respect and have been intimately familiar with. I hope that this intimacy makes the film real. The film was made in a freestyle sort of way: I documented the work of friends, they gave me introductions from one person to the next and the film grew like that. Even the
few work in-progress test screenings that we have had has always provided us with a chance to "re-mix" the film if you like.
After the film's Q& A with the audience I ask them what they liked or didn't like, then we usually have a freestyle session with some local MC's, and film I it. Then we know how to proceed with the next cut. So in a way this film has been constantly developing, growing and getting better each time we show it. I wanted the film to be like a DJ mix tape. Mix tapes were the way that music
spread from borough to borough in NY in the earliest days of the art. DJ Hollywood was a pivotal figure in the launching of underground mix tape culture in the 70’s. I wanted the film to feel like a visual representation of the mix tape form and be educational at the same time.
CVEA:
Are there any unifying characteristics shared by the
performers in your film?
Kevin:
The thing with freestyling is that it is all about producing work that is personal and therefore, unique. There are no classes or categories here. It is about the freedom that every artist has to not bow to convention. Originality is
king in this community. I would have to say that a ommitment to creating original work that has the integrity of personal truth behind it is what all of the people in
the film share.
CVEA:
Where did you get the resources to start filming?
Kevin: I used equipment from the university between and during class projects.
Some days I was literally using the equipment round the clock. It was hard to get other students to help me since it was just after the LA riots that we were doing this and most of them didn’t feel comfortable hanging out in the neighborhood at the time. I also borrowed a camera from Ben Caldwell, a professor at Cal Arts who started another famous open mike in Leimert Park called iFresh.
Unfortunately, Ben’s camera was stolen when some gangsters on the street during one night's shoot jumped me. I hope I’ll be able to replace it sometime soon.
Moneywise, I paid for stock and tape from money I made from DJ’ing, my student loans and more often than not as the project went on, from my extremely supportive family, especially my mom, Michelle. My producer Alex and best
friend Ty really went out on limbs so many times for me to make this film happen.
Very good people! Love!
CVEA:
What didn’t you get to touch on in the film that you wanted to?
Kevin:
There are a lot of historical and cultural roots of the art form that I wanted to touch on more: the African griots, scatting, blues, R & B DJ’s like Jocko Henderson, and Wolfman Jack and on the growth of freestyle and hip-hop
in other countries. There is so little out there right now about the history of the art form – but that will change soon, I think. We need our own hip-hop museum,
programs in universities and colleges, etc. Right now we are just at the tip of the iceberg in terms of the broad recognition of hip-hop as an art form.
There are many more films I would like make on the subject of freestyling and hip-hop. In fact, I see this film and the films that will follow it as a work in progress that I will be involved in for the rest of my life. Plus I think I would like to teach kids someday.
CVEA:
This was a very personal project for you. Do you have any personal dedication to make with it?
Kevin:
Yes, I’ve dedicated the film to my father, Robert. He was a pioneer in satellite, closed circuit television and video technology. When I look at his work I see that he brought people together across large distances both literally and
metaphorically. I feel that I am trying to do the same thing with this film. So in many ways it is homage to him and the principles he based his life on which I absorbed as my own.
CVEA:
What’s next for you?
Kevin:
To make more films and to pursue my long-standing interest in natural medicine. I see film as being an integral healing art form in modern society, and I would like to continue to explore and maximize the inherent capabilities of the medium for this end. I hope that Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme will be only the first of many docs and features I make with the goal of healing through the shared experience that cinema can create. There is a musical narrative film called "Tokyo DJ" that we are making next, and co-directing a doc. that my cinematographer, Todd Hickey is doing on the hip-hop band The Roots.
**
Be sure to catch the Kevin Fitzgerald at the screening of his film "Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme" THIS FRIDAY night at the Waterloo Center for the Arts. Admission is FREE.
**
This interview was based on prepared statements provided by Organic Films.
Posted: January 06, 2004  
|
