Bilal’s Stand: An Interview with the “Real” Bilal
Concluding our series on Bilal’s Stand is an interview with the “real” Bilal, director and screenwriter Sultan Sharrief.
“Bilal’s Stand” is a semi-autobiographical movie; what was it like revisiting your past and reshooting scenes that you’d personally experienced?
Shooting was really bizarre, and it was almost like a clash of worlds. We had to give up comfort zones, and we shot at actual locations, so in some ways, it was a total invasion of privacy, and there were some awkward moments. Even my family, though, understood that the story we were telling was for the greater good, so while the moments of deja vu and having the script really border real feelings and sentiments, the self-consciousness didn’t keep us down.
Sultan Sharrief, director and screenwriter of "Bilal's Stand"
Why did you feel like you had to tell this story?
This story sat for years in the pot, and finally, too much straw piled on the camel’s back. I’d just finished the Spiral Project [for which Sharrief had been nominated for an MTV Movie Award], and I wasn’t happy with the project. We just shot it for the money, and as we were filming all around Detroit, I realized that we were perpetuating the same stereotype. One day, I had an epiphany getting on set, that i needed to show the real life challenges of growing up in Detroit–”What am I gonna do after I graduate? How can I take care of my brothers and sisters and balance a job?” What pissed me off about movies portraying urban life, like ATL, or Boyz n the Hood, was that they didn’t tackle the everyday things that affect kids.
How did you, just a normal kid from Detroit, progress to becoming a filmmaker?
I first came to U of M with pre-vet in mind, before switching to sociology. As a sociology major, however, I was really angry–I’d read Savage Inequalities, a book by Jonathan Kozol, about the differences in schools based on classes and races and whatnot, and as I kept reading, I got more and more angry. I thought people didn’t know about school inequalities, and for me, I was really aware of the differences in schools, as my parents moved us around a lot so we could attend the best school systems. I chose sociology to concentrate on because I thought the field could enable action, but as I became more immersed in it, I realized that every social challenge exists simply because somebody thinks of it, and that the system exists because people believe there’s no other way. Filmmaking was my way of going for a real situation, and to tell people that they need to change their minds. I also struggle with ADHD, and I’ve always been a daydreamer, so film is also a way for me to put down my spacey nature and make it tangible.
How did the decision to enter the Sundance Film Festival pop up?
Sundance, wow, that was, that was just a whim. They get 7,000 entries every year, and from there, they only pick like 200, and I knew “Bilal’s Stand” wasn’t perfect, but it was worth a shot. And that kept us going, that it was wroth a shot. We were always with a lack of funds, and we kept reshooting for perfection, but there was so much needed, but the magic in what we were doing was worth it to keep us going. We began shooting in 2006, and everytime we stopped, I felt it was an injustice to stop right now, that we were not giving up. We had a goal of a dream, and we were unwilling to accept anything less; we kept shooting, and cutting, and by the time we submitted the Sundance cut in September 2009, it’d transformed into a totally different movie, and really learned and grew as an artist and individual.
What was your biggest difficulty in shooting? Your biggest triumph?
For me… difficulty and triumph, maybe they’re the same thing. It was just to keep going; there were a lot of “fail” moments, and we’d get so close. It really reminds me of “What happens to a dream deferred”–that Langston Hughes poem–and those questions everyday we’d constantly face. I didn’t know if what we were doing was going to push it away–every decision, every time we compromised on shooting, did we compromise too far? It was a daily battle, and sometimes a lonely journey, but we didn’t give up, and i was unwilling to accept my self-acceptance of defeat.
How do you feel as an African-American director jumping into a field that is, quite honestly, dominated by Caucasion men?
It is very intimidating, and Hollywood really likes to put things in boxes, and say “this demographic,” “that demographic.” I’m lucky, though; I’ve studied film and film history, and I believe people go to the movies to see a great story. I mean, there are lots of reasons why people go to the movies, but for us [Sharrief and the crew], we’re sticking to our guns and trying not to fit in a box, to just trust in the power of movies and the natural allure of a story.
Do you have any film icons that inspire you?
Any artistic piece is like life, like the birth of something, and it’d be an injustice to say because a certain individual “made” something is why it is great. There are lots of people and pieces I find inspiring, though–Matt Damon and Good Will Hunting, great movie, just great. I really admire Spike Lee–early Spike Lee–and especially the process of putting together a great film. Films like Go for Broke, with Kevin Costner, Field of Dreams, Lean on Me, Stand and Deliver… they all just inspire me to keep going.
