Tracy Heather Strain is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, writer, and producer. Her previous directing credits include episodes of miniseries “Unnatural Causes” and “I’ll Make Me a World: A Century of African-American Arts,” and episodes of PBS’ “American Experience” and “Race: The Power of an Illusion.” Strain is also the president and CEO of Boston-based media company The Film Posse, which she runs with her husband, Randall MacLowry.
“Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart” will premiere at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival on September 8.
W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.
THS: “Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart” tells the story of Lorraine Hansberry, the artist/activist who is best known for writing the groundbreaking play “A Raisin in the Sun.” Our film looks at the life, art, and times of this woman.
W&H: What drew you to this story?
THS: I was introduced to Lorraine Hansberry when I was 17 because my grandmother took my sister and me to see a performance at the Harrisburg Community Theater of “To Be Young, Gifted and Black,” the play about Hansberry’s life. It was quite a revelation to see and hear a young black woman who was really smart speaking about things that I had noticed, describing things that were similar to incidents that I’d experienced and yearning to translate it all in a way that other people could understand. When and where does one hear and see stories that include the experiences of middle class black Americans?
To paraphrase Hansberry discussing the effect a particular play had on her, I would say that Hansberry’s story as I understood it back in 1977 “entered my consciousness, and stayed there.” In the same way that Hansberry didn’t write “A Raisin in the Sun” right after seeing that play, years passed until we hit the independent film movement of the 1980s.
And then, for some reason, between Spike Lee’s call to “make black films” and seeing the dramatic feature film “Frances” about Frances Farmer, I decided that there should be a film about Lorraine Hansberry. I never really imagined that, between the early 1980s and 2017, that “Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart” would be the first feature-length film about her — and that I was going to make it.
W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?
THS: At the end of the film, I want the audience to reflect on losing Hansberry at such a young age and to follow her lead and speak out against injustice in whatever format or platform they can.
W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?
THS: Raising money was the biggest challenging in making this film because historical documentaries that employ archival materials are very expensive to make.
W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.
THS: “Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart” is an independent film that has received funding from a variety of sources including hundreds of individuals. Our biggest funder was the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and we geared our fundraising strategy to secure development and production money from the NEH as a priority because we knew that our story was humanities-based and NEH support would cover one-third of our budget.
We wrote a lot of proposals for a lot of different grants, completed a successful Kickstarter campaign, made direct appeals, and pursued licensing agreements. Over the years, my husband — and producer/editor [Randall MacLowry]— and I put a lot of our own money into the film, the most after the NEH.
W&H: What does it mean for you to have your film play at the Toronto International Film Festival?
THS: We officially started working on this film in 2004, so it has been quite a long haul. “Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart” is the first independent film that I have directed, and so to have its world premiere at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival is rewarding and such an honor.
W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?
THS: The best advice I’ve received while working on this film was to make sure I got enough rest and recovery time. I can’t think of anything specific for worst advice, maybe because I ignored it.
W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?
THS: I think it is important to try to work with people who are invested in your voice and the stories you want to tell but who will also give honest, constructive feedback and critiques.
W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.
THS: I don’t know if I have one favorite, but Kasi Lemmons’ “Eve’s Bayou” was a film that really excited me. There are stories I want to write about young African-American girls and this dramatic feature got me psyched to do that.
W&H: There have been significant conversations over the last couple of years about increasing the amount of opportunities for women directors yet the numbers have not increased. Are you optimistic about the possibilities for change? Share any thoughts you might have on this topic.
THS: I think that change is always a possibility, but whether it is likely is another story. I think we will see a very slow increases in numbers.
