The Love of Film and Behind Film
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When watching Sinners recently, it immediately became clear that a lot of love went into the film. The cast was dominated by women of color on-screen, and this remained consistent behind the camera. Several Black women helped craft the movie’s vision, including Zinzi Coogler, who served as a producer alongside her husband, director Ryan Coogler. Academy Award winners Hannah Beachler and Ruth E. Carter also worked on Sinners, credited with production and costume design. Cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw, who is of Filipino and white descent, brought the visuals to life.
Production designer Hannah Beachler spoke to Variety about the amount of detail that went into carefully crafting Sinners. Author Jazz Tangcay wrote, “Beachler wanted everything to feel as real and authentic as possible, so everything needed to be real, including the rust [on the juke joint’s walls].” Beachler spent weeks examining details of the South to recreate the atmosphere for the movie, even noting the presence of Asian small businesses and the historical context of certain colors like blue, which is said to protect slaves from evil spirits. This amount of attention to detail can be attributed to the empathy people of color have when recreating stories in such a painful era. This is what made the film feel special—the perspective that cannot be replicated.
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Ryan Coogler always attributes his success to the women of color in his life, especially his wife. His appreciation is reflected in the diverse cast and crew of the film, which includes many women of color. Despite this being the case for Sinners, it is not often the same for other box-office hits. In a study completed by USC Annenberg, the disparities between white production workers and marginalized ones are shown.
In the 18 years that the USC Annenberg study examined, only 32 of 1,688 films were directed by women of color. This lack of variety poses a problem for consumers, too, as these movies are difficult to get made, despite women of color being integral to the contemporary film industry.
Barbra Ramos from UCLA explains that women of color hold the key to industry survival, “Theatrical releases that featured the most diverse casts made up the top films, while familiar franchises, like Creed, Scream and John Wick reached new box-office heights with the infusion of more diverse casts and leads.”
The USC Annenberg study supports this as well. It found that while women of color were hired the least, the films they’ve worked on have the highest scores from critics.
For me, the lack of women of color behind the scenes reflects an even deeper reluctance to include them on screen. Sinners is a recent example of a film that made me leave with a feeling of warmth, primarily for its on-screen depictions of both African, African-American, and Chinese cultures. Having women of color behind the scenes, pioneering these stories, is appreciated by audiences and critics. Women of color have shown they are essential to the film industry, yet they experience a lack of opportunity. It is my hope that films like Sinners can be an example that prioritizing women of color behind the scenes isn’t a risk, but rather insurance of a story made with care. What recent films have made you think differently about who’s telling the story and why it matters?
