The Black Disquisition Film Spotlight

Today’s film spotlight focuses on the short film The Black Disquisition directed by Quincy Ledbetter.

What is the title of your film and what inspired said title?

The film is called The Black Disquisition

A disquisition is a long, elaborate essay or discussion on a specific topic and there’s one conversation that almost every American Black or Brown parent has with their children throughout their lives, which is about racism and navigating systems of authority.

Tell us a little bit about the story and origins of your film.

The film is based on actual events that happened to me when I was a kid, so it all comes from a very real place. The events in the school happened when I was in the fourth grade, and the events in the department store happened a couple of years before then. 

In real life, the events in the department store and the subsequent discussion happened to both me and my twin brother, but besides that, I intentionally depicted everything in the film as close to what happened as I could.

I’ve wanted to tell this story in some way for years, but couldn’t work up the courage to do so until now. I have to credit my producer Emily McCann-Lesser and my wife/producer Yuki Maekawa-Ledbetter for their encouragement throughout the difficult process of reliving this experience and reminding me that my story is worth telling.

I really could not have done it without them.

Any films or filmmakers that inspired this film?

Richard Linklater’s Waking Life was a huge influence on how we approached the animation for our film. Waking Life, in general, had such a visceral effect on me when I saw it years ago. It really changed who I was as a person and really taught me that big ideas can be explored in interesting and experimental ways.

Hisko Hulsing’s Amazon Prime series, Undone, was also a great source of inspiration in our technical approach.

What is the goal of the film for you?

Honestly, my goal was to simply exorcise the trauma the events of the film caused me all those years ago. Like so many others, I used to harbor a great deal of self-hatred and the journey to self-love involved understanding where the idea that I was less-than came from. I tracked it all the way back to the moments depicted in “The Black Disquisition”. In a way, it was a loss of innocence, and my goal with this film is to reclaim something that was taken from me.

I’m happy to report that it’s working out really well.

The accolades, festival screenings and awards the film has received are a very pleasant and welcomed bonus!

What has the journey been like getting the film into production?

Oh boy… 

We began making this film at the start of the pandemic, way back in early 2020, so it was very difficult. We did everything over Zoom and everyone on the team had to take on multiple roles. None of the actors or production team were ever in the same room, nor did we ever capture their performances at the same time.  

I wrote a guest article for NoFilmSchool.com that details how we pulled it off. What’s magical about this is, I feel like if we took a second to think about how we were actually going to do this, we wouldn’t have done it.

One thing you learned from this project?

The most valuable thing I learned is that my stories are worth telling and putting myself in the work is the best way to get to some sort of truth in the writing and the filmmaking. Before this project, I didn’t think this story was worth telling and I certainly didn’t think anything that actually happened to me was interesting enough to occupy anyone’s time as a collaborator or audience.

Now, I put myself in everything I do and it’s really elevated my work.

How can folks find you and your film online?

We’re still playing in a few festivals coming up! If you want to stay up on screenings or chances to see the film, you can follow @theblackdisquisition on Instagram. I’ll also be announcing screenings on my LinkedIn page.

I don’t keep up with social media, so the best way to keep in touch and up to date on what I’m doing is via my website. 

You can also contact me via my website and sign up for my newsletter!

Any last pieces of advice for fellow filmmakers?

JUST START!

If you wait for the right circumstances to be in place before you pursue a project, you’ll be waiting forever. Don’t wait for permission. Proceed as if you already have the money. Don’t let anyone stop you. JUST START MAKING YOUR FILM.

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