Stefon Bristol: "I never ignored or rejected my Caribbean identity to fit in."
I remember when I watched the trailer of “See You Yesterday” earlier last year. I was excited to see a story led by two young Black characters, but I was a bit concerned with the overall theme which was time travel to help prevent a Black teenage boy from getting killed by a police officer. That's why it took me a couple of days to watch the film once it premiered on Netflix in May. My concerns flew out of the window like 5 seconds into the opening credits. Seriously. Five seconds, it is all it took for me to sit in awe as I stepped into this fictional world lit up by Caribbean culture. By the time the ending credits rolled in, I realized how I'd never gotten the chance to see Caribbean identity represented through the diaspora experience in such a contemporary way... “See You Yesterday” is the first film I've watched that shows the American Caribbean experience without othering the Caribbean element.
I contacted Stefon Bristol and he kindly accepted to answer a few questions about his vision of Caribbean identity, his vision of “See You Yesterday” and his vision as a film maker. You can also check out the French translation (1, 2).
Photo by Cara Howe. Stefon Bristol directing.
Growing up while Caribbean
You're the first American-born generation of a Guyanese family. You were raised in Brooklyn. How would you define your Caribbean identity?
I don’t know how to define it honestly, because being Guyanese has always been me. But, since I was born and raised here, I am more American than Guyanese. And trust me, my relatives won’t make me forget it [laughs]. I’m always being called a Yankee. Heck, it’s my siblings and my cousins who are the ones to say that I am not Guyanese. And I had American friends who would say that I’m not American. Then what am I? Can’t I be both?
Growing up, I visited Guyana, met my family, learned as much as I can of my ancestral home. In Brooklyn, my mom will cook all the Guyanese dishes like Oxtail, curry chicken and roti, chow main, what have you. I never ignored it or rejected it to fit in. If one grew up in Brooklyn, there is always someone of Caribbean heritage.
Not going to lie to you, I often felt out of the community because I’ve assimilated to the American culture that I had to hang out a lot in East Flatbush to try and understand what it means to be of Caribbean descent. Since I didn’t grow up in Guyana, I felt like I missed a lot.
You mentioned in previous interviews that you grew up without seeing Caribbean people represented in cinema and television. Can you elaborate on what NOT being represented meant to you while growing up? Any good or bad viewing experience you'd like to share?
Growing up, I rarely saw movies about Caribbean people period. It hardly existed. And if there are any Caribbean characters in the film, they were stereotypes or gang members. And I was sick of it!
I remember Cess Silvera’s SHOTTAS. It was huge in Brooklyn when I was a kid! Everyone was playing that DVD or a bootleg of it. I remember folks were selling bootlegs of SHOTTAS on Church Ave on the sidewalk. It was wild! And I am not going to talk badly about the film, because it was an essential piece of Caribbean cinema. But - for me - the gangster lifestyle for Caribbean folks needed to stop being romanticized.
So when I grew up watching movies like LOVE JONES, DO THE RIGHT THING, POETIC JUSTICE, what-have-you about the Black American life, I never seen about the Black Immigrant life. And I’m glad I had the opportunity to SEE YOU YESTERDAY to do just that.
I grew up in Coney Island in the 90s and early 2000s. And at that time, my neighborhood was flooded with Bloods and Crips. My friends and I were surrounded by gang and violence culture. But, and this is strong, but we were not of that culture. Our parents raised us differently. We were nerds, and we were geeks. We played video games all the time, or be at the handball courts chilling. We would go to the comic book stores, collect Pokémon cards, and watch WWE.
My parents worked hard and made sure my tail was inside the house way before the street lights came on. I was made to go to church every Sunday and go to Sunday school. We don’t get to see this life in cinema about a Black teenager of Caribbean parents.
Photo by Linda Kallerüs From L to R: Eden Duncan-Smith, Danté Crichlow
See You Yesterday, sci-fi and Black representation
Claudette, the main character, is a teenage girl. In Caribbean culture, there's the myth of the pillar woman (fanm potomitan) which is going deeper than the strong/angry Black woman image. To me, CJ's mission is to figure out to save both Sebastian and Calvin. Her fight against Time or Fate seems hopeless and she risks losing herself in the process (a true fanm potomitan). So would you say Claudette is a modern interpretation of the fanm potomitan myth? How would you describe the young Caribbean woman she is?
To be completely honest, this is my first time learning about fanm potomitan myth. But, I’m very fortunate to learn about this now. I would say that Claudette’s nature and character are for the young audience to be inspired by when one has to fight dark forces in their lives, especially dealing with police brutality. I want to say to the younger audience is that we have to be annoying and unapologetically for what we need to accomplish. And we have to be unapologetically Black!
There is a myth circulating within law enforcement culture that Black people are prone to violence! I hate that myth. And the character of CJ - and Sebastian - shows that these kids are not only from the hood, but they are brilliant kids and nowhere near influenced by violence.
I don’t see her mission hopeless at all. I see her being determined, and she believes in her heart that she will prevail. She believes that she is going to win! Her character is to motivate my audience. Tell my audience there is hope. Claudette has faith. We must have faith, too, to prevail.
The viewers get to see how different Caribbean cultures are tied together in the Black experience in North America. Was there ever a moment when you had to pause and ponder if something was too Caribbean= too culturally unreadable?
When white folks make films about their southern, or Italian, or Greek, or whichever culture or heritage they come from in the western world, they don’t worry about what is unreadable for them. So you can be damn sure I am not concerned about what’s unreadable regarding my Caribbean heritage and culture.
I firmly believe the more personal and specific the characters are in the film, the more universal it will be. And if some people who watch the movie don’t get it, then I challenge them to go out and learn it. All my life as a young Black man, I am often pushed to learn white / Eurocentric culture. Now it’s my turn to do something against that.
Also, there is another myth about Black folks in America that we are a monolithic people. We are far from being monolithic! Black folks are just as diverse or probably more diverse than any other racial group in the world. And the Caribbean culture emphasizes that diversity.
I honestly wanted to put more Caribbean themes in motifs in the film, but I had to remind myself I need to focus on the story. I am going to have to try to do more in my next film.
“See You Yesterday” was a short movie first. A few rewrites later, it became a full-length movie. How would you compare the Caribbean vibe between the two versions?
The short didn’t have much Caribbean culture in that film. The film was only fifteen minutes, so we can solely focus on the narrative. When Fredrica Bailey - my co-writer- and I decided to work on the feature, we had an opportunity to show this culture; to live with it, and to expand it. And what better place than East Flatbush, Brooklyn!
I grew up going to East Flatbush when I was a kid. I usually go to Bobby’s Department Store to buy the knock off designer clothes, and then to Sybil's to get my chicken patties, and tennis rolls. During my research for my film, I would spend time in Crown Heights and East Flatbush during Carnival week and the West Indian American Day Parade during Labor Day weekend to help understand the Caribbean culture more. All this helped me write the feature script.
What I enjoyed was how the movie shows a definition of North American Blackness in the 21st century. Any Black people living in a country where they face discrimination can relate to this story one way or another. Regardless of the ending that infuriated many people, what did you want the audience to take away from this movie once the ending credits start rolling?
On the day of the film's release, I rolled out my bed at six in the morning to check Twitter and Facebook to see the responses. And boy! The last time I've seen so many people pissed off at an ending of a movie was TITANIC [laughs].
At first, I was depressed by a lot of the negative response to the ending, but with a lot of reassuring talks with Fredrica Bailey, I was reminded that this is the kind of response that I wanted. I want people to talk about the film, have dialogues with their family, friends, and co-workers. I wanted people to react to the film openly and think about it.
I worked on this movie for five motherfucking years! I thought about every angle of the story and every way this movie can end. So when I read some responses that I was lazy, I felt insulted. Reactions like that only tell me that those kinds of people have no clue how to write or make a movie! I had to fight for this ending. I had discussions with Spike Lee (my producer) about the ending. I had discussions with executives at Netflix about the ending, and then when we got to the editing room after the film was shot and there was even more talk about the ending with my editor. I had to fight for this ending for five years!
Wrongful killing and mistreat of Black people by law enforcement - not only in America but all over the world - is a very complicated subject matter for a film. There is no one-way solution for police brutality. Even for French filmmaker, Ladj Ly, with his Oscar-nominated LES MISERABLES, doesn't have an answer. The film brilliantly shows the plight of the young French Black youth dealing with crooked ass cops. But, the conclusion didn't provide the solution (which is fine). It provided a voice. And that what matters.
So why would I give a movie like this an ending that gives you an answer? Why should I have it perfectly wrapped up in a bow?
If I were to show CJ saving the day, saving Calvin's life, all's-well-that-end's-well bullshit, then I will be giving an oversimplified offensive response to a very sensitive issue that my country is still facing. And if I were to show CJ sacrificing her life or another young Black man or young Black woman being killed to help save Calvin's life, then I will be telling my Black audience that there is no hope.
So I strategically have CJ running towards the camera at the end, signifying she is running to the viewer for help. Get off that damn couch and do something about this. Because this is not stopping.
“See You Yesterday” is first and foremost a sci-fi movie. Are you okay with saying that the Black issues at the core of the story make it also a manifestation of Afrofuturism?
No! Afrofuturism, by all means, do not need Black issues to drive a story. For me, Afrofuturism is a genre where we see Black people thriving and flourishing in a future that is supposed to be denied to us. Or a genre that we are giving a space to be Black and free. I personally will continue to talk about our struggles and pain (regardless of how some Black folks are tired of it).
Okay. Now let's talk a bit more about the Caribbean film industry. Some Caribbean islands like Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Guadeloupe have been trying to build infrastructure to create Cariwood (Caribbean Hollywood). Do you see yourself a part of this ongoing construction? How would you envision the Caribbean representation in cinema... let's say 30 years from now?
Haha! I love that term, Cariwood! To be honest, I am still trying to find stories to set in the Caribbean, specifically in Guyana, that I want to do. It’s hard because I need to spend a lot more time in Guyana and strip my American views to tell an authentic Guyanese story. And that’s going to take some time. But, trust, I am working on it, and I have folks who are holding me accountable. I am not going to rush it because to tell authentic stories takes time.
But, in the meantime, between time, I want to give a shout out to Timehri Film Festival, which is Guyana’s premiere film festival. Shout out to Third Horizon Film Festival in Miami, which showcases strictly amazing Caribbean films. Shout out to the Nouveaux Regards Film Festival of Guadeloupe. A very fun and exciting festival run by two amazing women. And last but not least, major shout out to Brooklyn’s own Little Caribbean! They always have great events happening around Flatbush. Check them out.
Bonus question: what comes to your mind when you hear the word Karukerament?
For some reason, sauerkraut. Please don’t ask why [laughs].
Thank you, Stefon Bristol. “See You Yesterday” is available on Netflix. On February 8th of 2020, Stefon Bristol and Fredrica Bailey won the Best first screenplay award at the 2020 Film Independent Spirit Awards.