Ursula Liang is a journalist-turned-filmmaker and producer. Her producing credits include “One October,” “Tough Love,” “Wo Ai Ni Mommy,” “Spartan Ultimate Team Challenge,” and “UFC Primetime.” She directed, produced, and shot the award-winning film “9-Man: A Streetball Battle in the Heart of Chinatown,” which aired on public television. Liang is a Brown Girls Doc Mafia board member, and belongs to A-DOC and Film Fatales.
“Down a Dark Stairwell” will screen in the New York edition of the 2020 Human Rights Watch Film Festival. This year’s fest has gone digital due to COVID-19, and runs June 11- 20. You can find more information on the fest’s website.
W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.
UL: When a Chinese-American police officer kills an unarmed black man in a darkened stairwell of a New York City housing project, it sets off a firestorm of emotion and calls for police accountability. When he becomes the first NYPD officer convicted of an on-duty shooting in over a decade, the fight for justice becomes complicated, igniting one of the largest Asian-American protests in history and disrupting a legacy of solidarity.
W&H: What drew you to this story?
UL: This case happened just after Eric Garner was murdered and the Black Lives Matter movement was an urgent national conversation. This story was an opportunity to bring the greater Asian-American community into the dialogue. It captured the attention of Asian-Americans across the U.S. and even internationally — when you find an access point to peel back the layers of an important issue with an eager audience, it feels like a responsibility.
W&H: What do you want people to think about after they watch the film?
UL: I hope that people will be thinking way beyond the specifics of the case. I hope audiences think about systems of oppression and how they impact communities of color in different and similar ways.
W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?
UL: I love complicated stories, and this was one of them. Nuanced stories are a beast in the edit, so I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my editors, Michelle Chang and Jason Harper.
W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.
UL: We felt that we really had to be careful about how we raised money for this film, and were very fortunate to raise our budget in grants.
Huge shout out to our co-production partner, ITVS, and the other organizations that supported us: Ford Foundation, Center for Asian American Media, Sundance Institute, New York State Council of the Arts, Firelight Media, David Chan, Chicken & Egg Pictures, and TFI/A&E IndieFilms.
W&H: What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
UL: I was a print journalist before I became a filmmaker, and I always tortured myself over stories. There was no limit to the amount of time you could spend mulling over a single line in your head, no limit to the amount of research you could do or sources you could contact.
I thought that in film, you could capture a more unfiltered truth on camera, and once you stopped recording there was a finite number of ways to struggle through the storytelling process. Boy, was I wrong.
W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?
UL: Both best and worst: Don’t quit your day job.
W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?
UL: Project your authority on day one. There will be many people who try to question and actively disrupt your power, so it’s good to set the tone early.
W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.
UL: I love Kirsten Johnson’s “Cameraperson.” If you are a woman who shoots and makes films, the exploration of ethics, craft, and story are so intimately relatable and beautiful to watch. If you’re not, it’s still an amazing film.
W&H: How are you adjusting to life during the COVID-19 pandemic? Are you keeping creative, and if so, how?
UL: Personally, I am finding it very hard to be creative. I had to push really hard and sleep very little to finish “Down a Dark Stairwell” in March, so I’m at a good place to allow myself a break. I’m just trying to take care of myself and my friends emotionally.
These times really do make you rethink what is essential and important.
W&H: Recent protests in the U.S. and abroad have highlighted racism and anti-Black police brutality. The film industry has a long history of underrepresenting people of color onscreen and behind the scenes and reinforcing — and creating — negative stereotypes. What actions do you think need to be taken to make Hollywood and/or the doc world more inclusive?
UL: “Down a Dark Stairwell” is a FUBU film. If you don’t know what that means, then you’re illustrating why it’s essential for people of color to be represented in positions of power in the film world. There are things we inherently know that give us advantages in telling stories about our own people. When subjects have to explain things from the ground up, they may never get to the real meat of the story. When directors and subjects speak a common language, you can get to elevated storytelling about our communities.
But some of the biggest challenges people of color face in documentary are the structures that surround the creators. We need to see more melanin in sales, programming, criticism, acquisitions, and distribution — and less greed.
