Jaycee Tanuvasa, Steven Canals, Kerry Warkia and Tilane Jones are among 60+ speakers at the Power of Inclusion Summit. Photos / Supplied
Today and tomorrow, New Zealand is hosting The Power of Inclusion Summit, a conference on diversity and inclusion on screen that is the first of its kind to hit the Asia-Pacific region.
More than 60 speakers from across the globe will share their stories of struggle, perseverance and success, and work together with members of the industry to make a plan for the future.
Siena Yates talks to some of the summit's biggest names ahead of the two-day event.
Annabelle Sheehan, chief executive of the New Zealand Film Commission, says the summit is part of a journey the world is on toward greater inclusivity and representation. It is about "celebrating what has been achieved", but it's also about having the tough conversations and challenging industry members and boardrooms around the world, saying: "What's your next step to ensure that the screen industry reflects the strengths of all the communities and is as good as it can be?'"
TILANE JONES
President of Ava DuVernay's ARRAY
Speaking Friday, 9am, for the Changing the Narrative in the Boardroom panel, and at 1.45pm for the case study, ARRAY - The Artists, The Advocates, The Audiences
How did you get involved?
We were invited by the New Zealand Film Commission… they know Ava through her filming of A Wrinkle in Time in New Zealand and had requested that she speak, but she's in production and wasn't available so she nominated me as head of ARRAY.
Tell us about your work
I run ARRAY Releasing; we distribute films by film-makers of colour and women of all kinds. We also have our development and production arm, which handles shows like Queen Sugar, where we have all women directors. We also have a non-profit called ARRAY Alliance, and programmes that help film-makers as well as audiences and advocates to know more about the films that we're distributing by people of colour and women. And we also have our creative campus where we invite film-makers to see the process because we have a post-production facility, we have a writers' room, we have development and production and distribution.
How is our progress so far?
This has been an industry and a system that has been around for close to 100 years so we still have work ahead of us, but I do think that it's going in a positive direction. And I think a lot of that is because we have taken it upon ourselves to make sure that we see ourselves; I think what's going to be important in making it happen and seeing that change is that we stand up for ourselves and make sure that if there's not a table for us, if there's not a room for us, that we're building those rooms.
Being "woke" has become fashionable - does that help or hinder the cause?
I feel like there's always going to be that percentage of the population that may not get it, but you know, we have to start somewhere. So hopefully, through the work and through making sure that this is happening, they'll get a deeper understanding of why it needs to happen. Hopefully, it'll actually make them take action as well, to see how important it is and to move forward in that way. That's important.
You distributed Merata: How Mum Decolonised the Screen, how did that come about?
We know one of the producers on the film, Chelsea Winstanley - love her. We were so honoured when she reached out to us… and then just hearing the words from Mrs Mita, a lot of those things Ava has said as well. They're both activists, they both became film-makers later in life and they both spoke to the importance of people seeing their images on screen, and that those people are also making those images for themselves.
What does an ideal future look like?
For me, I would say that when you can go to a movie theatre any time of the day, in any city and see a multitude of films, by people of colour and by women. I hope it's not far off, I can't predict the future but I'm going to keep working at it and hope people will join me and continue to work at it too.
STEVEN CANALS
Creator, producer, writer and director of POSE
Speaking Friday, 11.45am for "In Conversation with Steven Canals"
How did you get involved?
There's a really wonderful executive who worked at Disney Julie-Ann Crommett (who is also speaking at the summit) who has just been a real ally and an advocate for me, and for my voice and my work for some time. She mentioned that there will be an opportunity to speak, so of course I said "absolutely".
Tell us about your work
For so long historically, especially in film and TV, people of color, LGBT people, women have not had a seat at the table and I would hope that what we are doing with Pose is modeling for the industry - both domestically and internationally - how to do things equitably. That it is important; for individuals whose story it is to have a seat at the table to tell those stories.
How is our progress so far?
I think that we still have a long way to go... but I do think that we're moving in the right direction. A show like Pose being on the air and being received so warmly... gives me hope that we will continue to see progress and change. I just hope that folks aren't sitting back because of Pose and saying, "well, we're done. We've done all we had to do", because it's only one show and it can't represent the entire scope of the community. I hope people see it as being just the first step and that there are many more steps to take.
Being "woke" has become fashionable - does that help or hinder the cause?
Claiming to be woke, I think just sets people up for failure. I actually would prefer that people just be honest about what they don't know, because... if I came in claiming to be "woke" around issues of trans-ness, what's the likelihood that I'm then gonna hire trans people to aid me in telling that story? Probably smaller because I'm claiming to know everything. The only way that we can start to combat that tokenism, is to have people of color and LGBT people creating their own content. It's really the responsibility of folks like myself... to now hold the door open so others have an opportunity to also step into the door and create their own work.
What are your thoughts on the ballroom scene in NZ?
It's so lovely to know that the ballroom scene has gone international. I think that's so important because - as we say on our show - houses are family, and really serve as an important safety net for young queer and trans people. So I think it's fantastic that these houses exist in Auckland, and I'm so excited to see them perform and see what they do.
What does an ideal future look like?
It would be to see those who have historically been marginalized to not only have a seat at the table, but be provided the tools to build their own table and for them to be the ones to decide who will have a seat at it. For so long we've had to fight, to beg to be let in the door and what we're seeing right now... is folks are now going off and finding their own ways not only to create new content but find new places for that content to live. I'm excited to see this next generation continue to break the rules and be really subversive.
JAYCEE TANUVASA
Theatre creator, trans-activist, FAFSWAG star
Speaking Thursday, 2.10pm, for Being the Change. Also FAFSWAG will perform after Steven Canals' talk on Friday at 11.45am.
How did you get involved?
Steven Canals hand-picked me to speak… and I was like, "Are you kidding me? Why?" For me, it was a major validation for doing what I'm doing and doing it right. For that to be acknowledged by someone of his calibre, I was shocked.
Tell us about your work
I grew up suffering a lot of discrimination and oppression because I am a trans person of colour. That lit a flame in me to spread light in my work, to change society; to educate, to raise awareness, to see more representation of people like myself. I work in theatre tackling a lot of trans narratives and for a lot of people that come to watch, this is their first time seeing trans stories played out, and for my community, it's the first time they're seeing themselves and hearing themselves on stage so they really can connect with that.
How is our progress so far?
I think New Zealand's one of the safer countries, I can honestly admit that we do have a bit of privilege here, but it doesn't mean that we're perfect. The only form of exposure, opportunities and representation that we get is either in the news or it's all very comedic. I think it's really important to let people know that we want to be humanised - we need to be shown in various versions of ourselves, as sisters, as partners, as lovers, as positive contributors to society. We want trans people to be a part of storylines where our gender isn't always dissected, where our character isn't always dependent on being transgender.
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Being "woke" has become fashionable - does that help or hinder the cause?
There's that battle that this is good exposure and representation for us... but what we don't need is someone to collaborate with us and when the work is done, just leave us. We need people that want to have long-lasting relationships, for the bigger picture, which is for us to finally live in this world and feel safe.
What does it mean to you to work with Steven Canals at the summit?
I feel really humbled and extremely grateful. I'm also excited to show him what a Samoan trans experience is because I think he's surrounded by black and Latina trans women within Pose and I'm really excited to be like, "I am a Samoan trans woman living in Auckland; let me tell you what it's like." This is an opportunity for me to tell all these influential people what's missing, what's working, what's not working, what we need and… just reminding people that art is a form of resistance, art is political, art saves lives.
What does an ideal future look like?
The ultimate goal is for trans people to feel safe. When people see who we are through media, they understand us, they're educated about us and so when they see us in public they can connect with us, and we can feel safe because they are aware.
KERRY WARKIA
Film producer behind Waru and Vai
Speaking Friday, 10.30am, for the case study Doing the Mahi – Paving New Ground
How did you get involved?
They approached us to be on one of their panels to essentially talk about the work that we do and our journey with Waru and Vai - which were kind of made non-traditionally - and, I guess, in a general sense, what inclusion might look like for us.
Tell us about your work
Making Waru was us saying, "We're going to build a system that we think is something different and more in tune to the kind of way we want to work, and then we're going to ask the women if they want to be part of that and if that is going to work for them" - and that worked. Twice. Any other time I still feel like we step into a system that is a colonial pre-existing system and no matter how good the intentions of the people who work in those places are, actually we require radical change to be able to be more inclusive. Inclusion is visibility, our world perspective and being heard and taken seriously.
How is our progress so far?
I think [the summit] is a great space to start talking about those things, but I don't think we should spend too much time patting ourselves on the back. While it's good to look at what has been done, the flip side of that is also seeing how long it's taken us to just do those things and then how much longer it might take us to actually have radical change.
Being "woke" has become fashionable - does that help or hinder the cause?
The idea that some representation is better than nothing, has massive flaws, that's not okay. Genuine inclusiveness means that those people that you bring in, their opinions have to be heard. You want to tell a story about Māori women - are you still getting white men to write that story or are you bringing in Māori women to start writing? Are you empowering them to do that or are you just looking for excuses why they can't do it? It isn't just what's showing up on our screens, because what's showing up on our screens, a lot of the time, can be really shallow… so we're not really learning about each other.
After the success of Waru and Vai, have things got easier?
It was really, really wonderful to have writers' rooms full of women, to be able to not have to justify a woman's existence on-screen and just talk about the story and be honest and real and have that time to explore what it is that we all want to say collectively and individually. But these systems, they're still the same. You know, even to this day Merata Mita still remains the only singular female Māori director of a narrative feature film. Sima Urale is the only female Pacific director who has directed a feature film in New Zealand, and that was in 2008 (Apron Strings). Roseanne Liang made My Wedding and Other Secrets in 2011, which is the only narrative feature film written, directed and starring a pan-Asian woman. Vai is the only feature film in New Zealand that was written, directed, produced and starred Pacific women. That's why it does still feel like a fight, like it's this incredible maunga to climb.
What does an ideal future look like?
I don't have all the answers, but I think that it's very easy to hide behind policy and I think if we can actually say, in our day-to-day work, "What are the things that I'm doing that are genuinely enabling these stories to happen?" - that genuine discussion about what actually can be done, what people can do in their roles is a good step forward. The question is, how do we keep it going? Because it can't just be these one-offs and then we're all still at the bottom of this maunga.
LOWDOWN:
Who: Tilane Jones, Steven Canals, Kerry Warkia, Jaycee Tanuvasa
What: Power of Inclusion Summit
When: Today and tomorrow at Auckland's Aotea Centre
'It is a project that was of great importance to Malcolm.'