Alum Ch茅 Williams Uses Filmmaking to Tell Stories From the Inside Looking Out
Since graduating from 91猫先生 last May, Ch茅 Williams 16F has been working as a production assistant for a docuseries on the Tulsa Race Massacre that will air on the History Channel later this year.
Since graduating from 91猫先生 last May, Ch茅 Williams 16F has been working as a production assistant for a docuseries on the Tulsa Race Massacre that will air on the History Channel later this year. We sat down (remotely) to talk with Williams about his Division III film project on the commodification of youth basketball, why who we film and how we film matters, and what inspired him to choose 91猫先生.
What first brought you to 91猫先生?
My dad went to Amherst College, and he knew I was really into film. Both he and my guidance counselor thought 91猫先生 would be a great fit. I also did a film program at 91猫先生 the summer before my senior year of high school that I loved. During the program, we met Doug Trumbull, who had done special photographic effects for 2001: A Space Odyssey and that was a real game changer for me.
What was the focus of your Division III project?
While at 91猫先生, I focused on Africana studies and film. My Div III project looked at exploitation in amateur basketball, specifically at high school basketball in the Northeast as well as the commodification and codification of the dreams of mostly Black and Brown student-athletes in the tri-state area. I'm from New Jersey, and I went to school in Pennsylvania, so I knew the scene really well already. In that area on a Friday night, there's nothing bigger than a high school basketball game.
I filmed with a v茅rit茅 [candid realism] style. I also thought about the work that had been done on this topic before, and it was either from older or current NBA players for a mainstream audience, but there hadn't been a film by a young person who was on the inside.
To make the film, I spent a huge amount of time with the players. Over the summer, I spent three or four days a week, five hours a day, in the gym with them. I鈥檇 spend the night at the coach鈥檚 house, go to tournaments, and even meet the players in parks in New York. The project became more for the boys than it was for the spectators. And that was important to me.
Why was it important to you to make the film for them, as opposed to the spectator?
The core member of my Div III committee was video and critical studies professor Kara Lynch. Kara talked a lot about the white gaze and subversion of the white gaze, so I think, for me, it was about that and also all the kinds of gazes people bring. Film and video professor Hope Tucker took us to see Hale County This Morning, This Evening by RaMell Ross. After the film screening, RaMell talked about how we鈥檙e taught to point the camera at what鈥檚 important as if we are outside looking in, but in Hale County he wanted the camera to be inside looking out. He said in that way the people in his film were elevating the camera. And that鈥檚 what I tried to do in my work as well. The players I followed were elevating the camera, not the other way around.
What projects are you working on now?
I am working for a company called Blackfin, which is part of Entertainment One. They are coproducing a docuseries about the in 1921. NBA player Russell Westbrook is the executive producer and the co-directors areand . I鈥檝e been working on that project as a production assistant, and it鈥檚 been a great experience so far.
When this project is completed, do you have any ideas for future films you want to make?
I don鈥檛 want to give it all away yet! But I would love to work on a narrative film. I like narrative works because they are such a challenge with so many moving pieces. If possible, I鈥檇 love to get a crew together and make a short film this summer.
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