Tayarisha Poe is a storyteller from West Philly. She was chosen as one of the “25 new faces of independent film” by Filmmaker magazine in 2015, and in 2016 she received the Sundance Institute’s Knight Foundation Fellowship. In 2017 she was selected for the January Sundance Screenwriters Lab and the June Sundance Directors Lab. She is a 2017 Pew Fellow.

“Selah and the Spades” will premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival on January 27.

W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.

TP: I’d say the first half of the film feels like being a teenager in the midst of an endless spring afternoon when your homework is done, your clothes are fresh from the dryer, and you’ve got a fresh glass of no-pulp orange juice nearby at all times.

The second half of the film is like that feeling you have when you are afraid that you’ll sleep through your alarm before a long and stressful day, so the whole night you wake up every 20 minutes in a panic to check the time on your phone.

It’s the story of kids who live away from home and thus have created their own set of rules to survive, and thrive, in this fictional microcosm of society that is The Haldwell School.

W&H: What drew you to this story?

TP: I found the experience of attending boarding school to be, in retrospect, incredibly specific and fascinatingly odd. I wanted to capture the essence of that experience while also crafting a story that was filled with kids who looked like me and who did — to be frank — whatever the fuck they wanted to do.

I wanted to write a story starring a bunch of kids of color who were limited only by themselves. I wanted them to be powerful and dangerous and larger than life.

W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?

TP: Empathy for the devil. Sympathy, sure, but I’m going for empathy first.

W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?

TP: Reminding those who are a part of the status quo that simply because things have always been done a certain way — in their experience as members of the status quo — doesn’t mean that those things should always be done that way. It can be exhausting to convince people to try new ways of telling a story, but my oh my is it worth it.

W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.

TP: Producer Lauren McBride and I raised almost all of our invested funds through Sundance’s Catalyst program. We have also been supported by grants from Cinereach, Sundance, the Leeway Foundation, Small But Mighty Arts, and the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage.

W&H: What inspired you to become a filmmaker?

TP: I am always eager to see stories about the marginalia of black girl life, about the mumblecore minutiae of being a human being. In film — and in all Western storytelling — there is this awful assumption that only the relatable, “every man” story can be successful, and therefore must only be the only story told, with white characters at the center of it, and that’s just not my jam.

W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?

TP: Some of the best advice I’ve ever received was from one of my mentors at the director’s lab, Keith Gordon. He said that he’d loved “Selah and The Spades: an overature,” the project that the feature film was born from. [He appreciated] all of its odd storytelling techniques and its weirdness, and told me that I shouldn’t let anyone ever convince me that I can’t take those same oddities and use them in a feature film. He basically encouraged me to listen to my gut: Even if it doesn’t totally work, at least it’s honest and true and it’s me. It’s not some amalgamation of a bunch of people who have their own ideas of what the film should be. Listen to your gut — classic Selah advice.

The worst advice I got was to always shoot for coverage, just in case, just for safety. As though it doesn’t rob you of making intentional and specific choices on set and in the edit.

W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?

TP: You know what the fuck you’re doing, and if you don’t, you’ll figure it out. You’re supposed to be here. Your voice is what we need. Don’t ever let the status quo tell you otherwise.

W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.

TP: Amy Heckerling’s “Clueless,” hands down. I know every word. We had a VHS of it when I was a kid and I’d watch it to the end, rewind it, and watch it again. It just perfectly captures the absurdity and the weight of teenage emotion with such kindness and care. I love it. That movie makes me happy.

W&H: It’s been a little over a year since the reckoning in Hollywood and the global film industry began. What differences have you noticed since the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements launched?

TP: A lot more men complaining about how hard it is to be men. A lot more women speaking freely about the bullshit we put up with! I love that. Speaking freely, for better or worse, is one of my favorite activities.