An Interview with Faruk Lasaki; The Producer/ Director
What brought about the desire to shoot a film and the Inspiration for Changing Faces?
When winding up my diploma in the Film school in New York, I had to come up with a final project. I always knew that I wanted to work on a piece that clearly depicted the difference between “Good and Bad”. I wanted my project to show a demarcation between God: the representation of all that is good, and Satan: the representation of all that is bad. I wanted the neutral ground to be man, caught in between the two choices and obviously in a quagmire. I derived my piece from my vivid imagination of the Devil getting kicked out of Heaven by God and in his anger; he declares that he will stop at nothing to make sure as few “Men” as possible actually get to Heaven. I called my project: Six feet below!
Ultimately, I needed to prove a point. I have been in the industry for the past 13 years involved mostly with the production of Commercials and Documentaries. I don't consider any of these as very strong testimonials of a creative mind; in fact, I find them rather limiting and restrictive. I needed an avenue where I could express my creativity fully and exert myself fully, and I did just that. I put myself totally into this movie both physically and financially. I needed to prove that internationally acclaimed movies can also be produced in Africa.
I am a very Artistic person who puts my heart into all my projects so naturally, I was disappointed when writers didn't believe in my story and vision enough to pen the story down for me. I am not gifted in the writing department and so, in as much as I knew I had a selling idea, I needed someone with the flare for writing to put my story on paper and help me start the process of putting flesh on the skeleton.
Luckily, I met Yinka and we begun to create 'Magic' through my ideas and his writing prowess. We disagreed on very many occasions but that was the spice that kept us both on our creative edge and had us come up with a production I am immensely proud of.
*Your story is nothing like the regular Nigerian movies. Was that a risk worth taking?
Absolutely! I was not trying to reproduce what my fellow country men have done because that would not have set me apart from the pack, which was my intention.
I wanted to work on a movie that would set African productions on the same pedestal as Western productions. I needed to show the world that Africa has beautiful locations, talented crew, motivated and expressive talent and the capability to come up with an internationally acclaimed production.
I strongly believe that when two people have sex, not only do they merge in the physical realm but also in the spiritual realm. How much more two people with completely contrasting morals? If these individuals have different “angels” (for lack of a better word) looking out for their different interests, is there a union of sorts between these two elements in the spiritual realm? Clearly, each element would deem itself superior to the other and would not want to “merge” with the other. In my artistic imagination, I envisioned a “swap” of the two elements from their former occupant to the other, through the sexual intercourse. This is what becomes of Dale and Lola, and they each take on the traits of the other; Lola now moral and conservative, Dale a sex crazed man who will stop at nothing to quench his new desires. In this way, sex not only takes something from the two parties involved, but also deposits something in them. In the wrong context, this may have devastating effects.
I wanted morality to come out very strongly in this story in a manner that cuts across all boundaries and did not segregate any audience. Sex is a Universal moral issue so I was sure this theme would bring out the message clearly. It was paramount that I employ the mystic in the plot because I think in a very metaphorical manner and I needed that edge for the spiritual 'swap' to take place.
*The entire writing process took 8 months. Take us through that journey.
We both agreed that although this was a rather difficult road to take, especially for a first movie, the Moralistic element of the movie had to be retained. I still wanted a movie that would cut across all boundaries and therefore, needed a theme that universally carries both good and bad connotations in different settings. That was the easiest bit in the story formation; we came up with Sex as the theme. The one thing that makes the world go round and that can be good in the right setting and just as easily cross over to the bad side in the wrong setting.
I still wanted to bring out the symbolism of good and bad and show Man as the victim, caught in between the two extremes. Sex is the one issue that most people gloss over but it is the one thing that is Universal and that would work as the moral symbol. I, however, did not want to segregate any audience by making the movie have a “Christian feel” or be inclined to any other extreme mainly because I knew this was a plot that anyone and everyone could relate to and could draw life changing lessons from.
Yinka is a hopeless Romantic so for the better part of the writing, we had no issues. I had him make a couple of drafts because there were times when I felt like he was not in tune with my vision. These were very frustrating times for me and I wished I had the knack to pen down the script myself; my way. He asked me to write down a summary of what I wanted and after I did, we got on the same page and the story really begun to take shape.
Our biggest issue during the writing stage was with the ending. We could not agree on how the swap should be 'rectified' without the same 'bad deed' being repeated and with lessons learnt imprinting a permanent life lesson in the lives of both Dale and Lola. Eventually we agreed to disagree and I can confidently say that we are both very happy with the outcome. I’m especially happy that my ending won the tassle.
I never had a problem when deciding on the title for my movie. I always knew what words it would play around.
Changing Faces is a metaphorical title that embodies everything I was trying to carry across in my movie. It depicts that there is a changing on the physical realm. However, watching this movie quickly dispels any thoughts of cosmetic surgery or any other form of physical change, bringing in a more spiritual change. The change may be internal, but it does eventually manifest itself on the outside for all to see.
Put some flesh on the actors and explain why you cast who you did to tell your unique story.
Dale was without a doubt the one character I gave a lot of thought to. I changed him from being a black character to a white character. This change did not go down well with the writer as he did not understand why I kept having different epiphanies and changing the script. Eventually, we agreed on not a white or black person playing the role, but on Marc Baylis as the best man for the job, regardless of his race. His character was the embodiment of all that is good and morally acceptable. His antagonist Lola acted by Rachael Young was the embodiment that all that is bad and condemned by society as immoral. Rachael is a wonderful actress and I had confidence in her delivery of the taxing role. Her character Lola will sleep with anyone, anywhere, and prides herself in being an irresistible seductress. Quite the parallel of the protagonist Dale who is hard-working, loves his job and wife. His only short coming is his depriving his wife of her conjugal rights. He may be devoted to her emotionally and financially but does not deem sex in their marriage as much of a necessity as these other elements. This is of course affecting their marriage, an issue that even he would rather “gloss over” as most people prefer to do whenever the word sex is mentioned. This depicts how even in the right institution; that which is universally craved can cause strife; that which brings union can just as easily be grounds for separation.
Someone needed to be sacrificed in order for the message to come across with the impact I intended it to have. That person was Dale and I believe this made the story even more powerful. It is always a lot easier for someone who has been good and crossed over to the other side, to come back to the “good camp”. Not such an easy thing when a person who has no sense of morality has to cross over. But this spiritual change gave Lola the opportunity to cross over and want to stay good. Dale needed his old safe life back as well and a such, the story just kept getting more life and developing more life changing teachings as it developed.
Yes! One character stood out the most for me and that was the Androgynous Black played by the Emmanuel. I felt like he totally understood my story, was passionate about it and was completely sold to my vision. I felt like even in his silence, he took over the entire production and became a lead in his own respect. As the Director and instigator of the story, he totally won me over.
Every production has its challenges. What were those encountered by Changing Faces?
I was doubling up on several different roles. I was the Director, Producer and Financial “hustler” of the production. It felt like I needed clones of myself for everything to flow smoothly. Things did not go according to plan most of the time and that was very frustrating. There were times when I felt I was not getting the delivery I needed and during those times, I would end up doing the job myself. I guess I am a perfectionist, and I was especially not taking any chances with my first ground breaking movie. However, this was also my driving force to a large extent. I used all the mishaps to push me to excel and I am quite happy with the end product, in fact, I am Excited about Changing Faces.
One other issue for me during the shoot was the characters. There were times when I felt so in tune with the production and I didn't feel the characters; the story tellers of my vision were as in sync with Changing Faces as I was. I feared this would limit their delivery but I was quite impressed with their interpretations of their roles and the delivery of their characters. They read the scripts, added a piece of themselves to the roles and breathed life into my production.
I am particularly proud of myself at having accomplished this milestone in my life, despite the barriers that were before me. I am now focusing my energy on marketing my movie and sharing it with the world. I want this to be used as a epitome of the good productions Africa at large can produce.
Having taken these first steps and with the backing of my experience in the industry, I am now ready to venture into Hollywood. I intend to work on a bigger movie with a bigger budget because I intend to incorporate the big names in my production. I am particularly interested in using Denzel Washington in my movie and Chinwetalagwu Ejiofor.
Am looking at doing a couple of Hollywood Movies in the near future and then giving back to society that which I am privileged to have acquired over the years; Knowledge!