We had an amazing opportunity to chat with Director Tianna Banton about “Just Remember.” Check out the interview below.
Tianna, you have an amazing film about to release, to add to your impressive resume, and we can’t wait to speak to you about “Just Remember!” This film is about a woman’s road to recovery. Tell us more.
Well, the film is about a teenage girl named Jess who goes out to her friend’s birthday party with her twin brother Warren and gets completely hammered. As a result of that, while trying to cross the road to get into her and brother’s car she gets hit by an oncoming car and ends up with a bunch of series injuries, you know, broken leg, punctured lung, dislocated disk in her spine and then it’s revealed to her mum, brother, and sister at the hospital that she has amnesia. The film focuses on not only her adjustment to what’s happened but also her family they are really put through quite a lot and then to make matters worse they get an unexpected visitor at their front door that just adds a whole new element to what’s already going on it’s crazy but super emotional at the same time.
How did you develop the characters?
We did about 6 weeks of rehearsals with the cast, when we started I gave them a brief outline of who their characters were, I say briefly it was more like “this is their name, their this age and this is their family” and then I let them figure out the rest. It was really important to me for them to figure out on their own why their characters were why they were, why they acted the way they did what brought them to that exact moment. And through the 6 weeks, each week we just worked on the script scene by scene and worked on body language and emotion facial expression which was already tough given the nature of the film but was even tougher when we were rehearsing with Lou who plays Jess because Jess spends the majority of the film in a wheelchair so it wasn’t like a normal character where she could get up and move when she was frustrated and walk out or run off she didn’t have that option because Jess didn’t, so it was important that everything Jess couldn’t say physically with her body we expressed through facial expressions and tone of voice.
What was amazing to see as a director was at the last rehearsal we sat down and I asked them questions about their characters and they were telling me stuff that I hadn’t thought off and I wrote the script.
When and where will it release?
We’re still in the post-production stage right now, it’s been quite a lengthy process that none of us really imagined it being and right now we’re seconds away from an hour and we have more scenes to edit and put in. We would love to do festivals and then release it worldwide but only time will tell what happens, we kind of have a release date in mind for next year but it all depends on whether we end up doing the festival circuit.
What inspired the script?
I never really know what inspires any script that I write, I have such a vivid imagination and in some ways my mind is basically an idea machine that is constantly cranking out ideas, but I will say I did have this idea more than once and I remember telling my cousin Jonathan over lunch one day that I kept having this idea for a film and that I thought it meant I should do it. I was getting excited about it and it was just an idea.
What should the audience expect?
There is a lot of things the audience should expect, the audience should expect to cry, some of the scenes in this film are so emotionally driven that there were days on set where we were crying because it’s become a part of us and it went from filming this traumatic story to living this traumatic story, there was a lot of hugging and checking to see if everyone was okay after most scenes. I’d also say expect to see a family that is so broken for so many different reasons try and rebuild their lives because of what’s happen because of this incident they try and reiterate the meaning of their family and it’s quite beautiful to see them realise that you know they ain’t perfect they got a ton of issues but their family is worth sitting through those issues and working it out . Oh, and plot twists expect a plot twist or two.
You’re also releasing a documentary called “Young Black and on the Way Up.” Tell us more.
The documentary started out as just a hobby kind of project and then turned into a passion project, essentially what the film is about is a serious of interviews with young black actors, musicians, artists, photographers etc from the UK who have been in the industry for a while and although they aren’t your Kevin Hart or Viola Davis, they are making a name for themselves and that was important for me and to me to homage that and say “Hey look at these beautiful black people, who are killing it right now and you don’t know because they ain’t some big name” And I think that’s why it became a passion project for me because it’s about shining a light on these people who are saying “I am more than your stereotype of what I am supposed to be”.
You’re an avid actress, writer, and filmmaker, who continuously hones her craft. What keeps you inspired?
Honestly, my imagination is a massive part of what keeps me inspired, like I said before it’s constantly coming up with ideas. I’d also film, I watch a lot of films, some I’ve seen millions of times and others for the first time and it’s honestly the most inspiring thing. You’re transported to a whole different world and I want to provide that.
Thus far, what has been the best experience working in the industry?
There has been a lot of experiences in my career so far that has been amazing, my first red carpet premiere for my debut feature film in my home-town was crazy, I tend to have this moment where in the middle of filming I’m transported into a different world where all the actors have become their characters and its a crazy but amazing feeling, the people I meet, I’ve met some amazing people who are now good friends.
Do you have any upcoming projects that we haven’t mentioned?
I have a short film that I am co-directing with my DoP Jamal, called The King in Yellow, which is a horror film and it’s something new that I haven’t done before so it should be interesting.
Complete this sentence, if I had an opportunity to do anything I want, I would do ___________.
I want to continue making films, and work with some amazing people such as Zendaya, Kevin Hart, Margot Robbie and many more.
Connect with Tianna:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tiannabanton
Instagram: https://instagram.com/tiannabanton
Facebook: https://facebook.com/officialtiannabanton
Featured Image Credit: Lima Charlie.
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