Many visionaries in film and the arts often come from places that the mainstream would not expect them to. Some view art and film education as a privilege, either for the rich, or a task undergone by individuals who have no real passion for anything and want to get a degree in something. Both of these views however, are heinous and completely divorced from reality. When we as a society try to compartmentalize art as a fringe activity for deadbeats or the rich and privileged, we are doing an incredible disservice to ourselves and to our culture. It is out of this climate, and discrimination that we look into this week’s visionary profile.
If any of you happened to watch the Academy Awards last week, or happened to stumble onto the internet, you’re probably aware that Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave took home best picture. The film itself is a grueling affair, a beautiful yet brutal work of art. It chillingly and faithfully tells the story of Solomon Northrup, a free black man who was kidnapped and forced into slavery. It is interesting to note however, that while 12 Years is a story of brutal discrimination and marginalization of humanity, the director himself knows how this attitude nearly prevented him from following his dreams.
McQueen was born in London in 1969, and by the time he reached high school he felt discrimination first hand. In a recent interview, McQueen said that his high school had a form of “Institutionalized” racism and discrimination which would place certain students into classes more suited for manual labor, such as plumbing, roofing, and other construction work. Due to his ethnic background, McQueen already found himself being lumped into this category. McQueen also suffered from dyslexia, and wore an eye-patch to hide his lazy eye. The director felt that these hindrances along with his racial background were reasons why he was essentially written off, those in power basically deciding his fate for him. McQueen, however, always knew he was destined for much more. After finishing high school, McQueen would go on to study art Hammersmith and West London College, and then studied art and design at Chelsea College of Art and Design. Later he would study fine arts at Goldsmiths College, University of London. It was here that McQueen first discovered his love of film. He would leave Goldsmiths and studied film briefly at New York University’s Tisch School (where Phillip Seymour Hoffman also studied). The experience was brief, but McQueen stated that his time there was too stifling to creativity, “they wouldn’t even let you throw a camera up in the air!”
While McQueen has only directed three feature films, he has produced numerous short films, many of which were shown in art galleries. McQueen was a centerpiece in many of his early films, and raised questions about such topics of human aggression, and eroticism. He was essentially written off by people who felt that because of the color of his skin, and few difficulties that he had reading meant that he was only fit to work with his hands. Like the characters in his films, he was written off, and suffered the same sort of discrimination, and a flippant disregard for other people as human beings. McQueen however has always had a passion for the arts, and it has taken him perhaps farther than he could have ever imagined. This is the spirit of a true visionary, showing that no matter what the circumstances, with passion and determination, and a love for what you do, the sky is the limit.
Written by Jacob Smith Chamelin
Web Content Writer
Visions Film Festival & Conference
Wilmington, NC
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