Maria Govan is a self-taught filmmaker from the island of New Providence in the Bahamas. After working on sets in Hollywood, she returned home and began making small guerilla-style local documentaries — “Junkanoo: The Heartbeat of a People,” “Where I’m From: HIV and AIDs in the Bahamas,” and “A Man with a Voice: The Life of Norman Solomon,” to name a few. In 2004 she moved to New York and began writing her first narrative film, “Rain,” which premiered at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, and won numerous awards internationally.
“Play the Devil” will premiere at the 2016 LA Film Festival on June 4.
W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.
MG: “Play the Devil” is an intimate story that looks at what it means to come of age as a gifted, young, working class Afro-Trinidadian man struggling with his sexual identity within a misogynist, religious environment and complicated family dynamic.
W&H: What drew you to this story?
MG: I was raised in a Greek community on the small island of Nassau in the Bahamas where it was great stigma to be gay. So when, in my teenage years, I began realizing that I was different — that I was queer and attracted to women — a rather self-destructive path enfolded.
I was granted a D’Aguila Art Scholarship to travel and look at Carnival in Trinidad. I spent that time with Abigail Hadeed, my producer, who is primarily a photographer by profession. Abigail showed me the incredible terrain of traditional “Mas,” or Carnival, which has been the focus of her creative work for decades.
We drove up what are the most treacherous roads that I have ever encountered to the rural village of Paramin to film the “Jab.” The “Jab” is a pre -Lenten ritual that takes place in Paramin on the Monday night before Carnival, where bands of young people cover themselves in blue, and dressed as devils, descend the mountain howling, gyrating, and drumming — it is so raw and dynamic. The villagers then “pay” the devil to leave them alone for the year.
It really struck me that the people of Paramin have created a sacred space for the Shadow, which is not common in the West where we work hard to avoid that which we deem dark or bad. I believe wholeheartedly that we cannot heal without bringing the Shadow of our psyche into the light, and so this metaphor of acceptance leading to transcendence began spinning a web in my imagination.
The more difficult piece of my inspiration was the fact that in Trinidad a young sixteen-year-old boy had committed suicide, allegedly after being threatened by his lover to be outed to his family. As a queer Caribbean person, that tragedy really weighed heavy on me and also fed my inspiration and will to make this film.
I felt sickened that this young man felt so isolated and despairing that he would take his life. I too had struggled with my sexual orientation, to such a degree that I also considered suicide as a teenager. Thankfully I spoke it aloud and had the support of family and friends, who encouraged me to see a professional therapist.
Today I celebrate my queerness and can honestly say that I have purged any shame attached to this part of who I am. So in short, it was a strange brew of many things that settled inside of me, generating the soil that would grow this story.
W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?
MG: I hope people feel both moved and conflicted. I don’t want to say more than that, as I want people’s experience to be their own. In my experience people really do walk away with feeling different things, which is far more interesting to me than creating something prescriptive and emotionally one- dimensional.
W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?
MG: I would say that casting was our biggest challenge. When working outside of the United States, SAG will not allow for any low-budget consideration. We are required to pay scale, which is impossible on films at our budget level.
Casting the role of James was our biggest challenge. Then at a party I had a chat with a friend named Gareth and asked him whether he’d be open to such a crazy thing as auditioning for a lead in a film. He said, “Sure I’m always up for an adventure!” He’s not a professional actor by any means. We all took a giant leap of faith together. I am so grateful it worked out! He should be extremely proud!
W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.
MG: We applied for significant support that the Trinidadian Film Commission was offering and were one of three films selected. Trinidad is consciously developing their film industry not only as a destination, but they are also actively empowering Caribbean voices to tell our stories, which is so admirable because it really has positively impacted the region at large. They also offer, for those looking for a Caribbean location, an incredible rebate of 35% cash back on Trinidadian Dollars spent.
My investors from my previous film “Rain” all came in with something. Abigail then raised the rest of the money and begged favors along the way and we received a grant from an organization called Bread for the World in Germany. There was a lot of love that went into this film. Our cast and crew worked so hard for so little and were amazing — every single one of them! And with that I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them all!
W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?
MG: I worked as a set PA with a big Hollywood director on a few films many decades ago and one day he pulled me aside and said, “You see this entourage? You know why I have all of these people around me? It’s because I trust them. Maria, you wear your heart on your sleeve, which is lovely, but most people don’t deserve all of that access, especially into your uncertainty. Remember there’s great wealth on the inside that not everyone deserves. Protect it.” It really has stayed with me over the years and even today I work very hard to find that balance.
The worst advice I’ve ever gotten was some twenty years ago when I wanted to leave LA and return home to Nassau. Friends said, “You’ll never make it as a filmmaker if you leave LA. You certainly won’t make it in the Bahamas.” They couldn’t have been more wrong.
There are no maps to success when it comes to creativity. As completely cliché as this may sound, it truly is about trusting one’s inner voice. I think instinct is the most important friend one has when directing a film. Too often I have not listened to my own and boy does it bite me in the arse every time.
W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?
MG: Stop apologizing. That is huge for me. I recently had an experience with a colleague who had made some real errors in something and I got angry, which takes a lot for me. I then found myself apologizing. He, however, who had royally screwed up did not once apologize.
I think when women stand our ground we are often perceived as “angry.” When that is thrown at me it has often sent me spinning into self-doubt. Lately I feel that less and less. More and more I feel entitled to speak my truth — not disrespectfully by any means, but firmly when necessary.
I think women tend to care more about what others think of them. On my first film “Rain,” I really cared whether the cast and crew liked me. I was only 33 and very insecure at the time. There were people on my team who really tested my boundaries in a disrespectful manner. I promised myself that would never happen again, and it didn’t on “Play the Devil.” If there was even the gesture of such testing or disrespect, I nipped it in the bud, and that ultimately served the film and my sense of self-worth as a person and director.
People often perceive me as a softy and in many ways I am, until someone crosses that line and then, well, there is a lion under this lambskin after all. So all of that is to say that the best way to lead is by inspiring and nurturing your collaborators so that people feel safe to be open and take risks, but in the same breath boundaries also make people feel safe.
So I encourage women to embrace the fullness of who they are — including their inner lion should she be needed in a challenging situation.
W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.
MG: There is a Dutch film that I love called “Antonia’s Line,” directed by Marleen Gorris. I love that it showed in a lyrical, beautifu,l and almost folkloric way that life takes care of things — that we do reap what we sow and things do come around.
