Film explores activism, includes healing component
“Jail” is a short film written, directed and produced by artist Maxwell
Emcays. It is the first from The Emcays Motion Picture Studios. PHOTOS PROVIDED BY MELANIE BROWN
Film explores activism, includes healing component
By Tia Carol Jones
In 15 minutes, Maxwell Emcays was about to produce an activism film with redeeming qualities. His short film, “Jail,” was inspired by the community work he has been doing in the city.
Emcays has been doing a lot of community and grassroots organization activism work. He has experienced some of the challenges of working with the established city’s political and business structure. When Kanye West’s “Donda” came out, the song, “Jail,” sparked Emcays to tell a narrative to discuss the challenges he experienced. Emcays wanted some type of healing and holistic message for his film.
“Very often when we get films that portray “Black struggle,” you leave damaged and it’s sort of like peeling back a scab. You feel like the trauma is reignited. I wanted to be very cautious of that,” he said.
One of the things Emcays wanted to do was tell the story of struggle without infusing a lot of trauma, and instead provide a healing component. He also wanted to tell a story where community leaders are the heroes. Emcays believes that doing work that uplifts and betters the community is heroic and he wanted to reflect that in his narrative.
“Jail” is a metaphor for the Tower of Babel, from Genesis 11. In the Bible, the people built a tower to try to reach Heaven. The tower was crumbled, and the Babylonian people were divided into people with many languages.
“I wanted to speak to how our society, and particularly those at the top, are constantly striving to build this tower, this tower of status and material values and accumulating abundance. This tower gets taller and taller, without concern for the people who are working for it and the stability of it,” he said.
Through the film, the story of how people were building a tower, like the tower of Babel, that wasn’t sustainable and would crumble, is the main metaphor threaded through it. As society is being built out, Emcays believes there should be sustainability. He brought up the South and West sides of Chicago as examples of communities that have been forgotten while society moves forward, without consideration of these neglected communities.
At the end of the film, the last phrase is, “I guess it’s time for a rebuild.” It references an idea that there is an opportunity to rebuild with a new consideration, a new heart, with souls, humanity and
spirituality, first.
“Jail” is told through a voiceover narration instead of lines from the actors. Emcays did this because of the density he wanted to compile in 15 minutes that he couldn’t do with pure dialogue. When he wrote the voiceover, he wanted to add an extra layer to the film, weaving and tying everything together in a poetic way that wasn’t too direct or too juvenile. The narration is done by the actor Heavy Crownz, who also plays the lead character. He delivers the lines with depth from the community and the culture.
Emcays also wanted to reflect back to the Black Panther Party and their journey, to think about where history could have gone and creating a new path. Instead of members of the Black Panther Party being assassinated and murdered in their homes, Emcays wanted to write a narrative where they don’t get murdered or brutalized but they find a way to show strength and “enough is enough and not stoop to the level of their oppressor.”
Emcays hopes people will get relatability and wholeness out of the film. Even with the critique of police structure and political structure Emcays wants the film to be something that doesn’t feel divisive. He wants it to be holistic, without feeling shortsighted.
Emcays would like to see the short film as a full-length feature. It would take funding support. He is looking for a patron and would like to shoot the full-length feature this summer. He already has a script ready.
“It was very important for me to try to add to the catalogue of being able to create aa Black narrative, being able to create a Black voice, by a Black producer, by a Black writer, without it being sort of hijacked by some of the Hollywood influences,” he said.
For more information on “Jail,” visit emcaysfilm.com.
By Tia Carol Jones
In 15 minutes, Maxwell Emcays was about to produce an activism film with redeeming qualities. His short film, “Jail,” was inspired by the community work he has been doing in the city.
Emcays has been doing a lot of community and grassroots organization activism work. He has experienced some of the challenges of working with the established city’s political and business structure. When Kanye West’s “Donda” came out, the song, “Jail,” sparked Emcays to tell a narrative to discuss the challenges he experienced. Emcays wanted some type of healing and holistic message for his film.
“Very often when we get films that portray “Black struggle,” you leave damaged and it’s sort of like peeling back a scab. You feel like the trauma is reignited. I wanted to be very cautious of that,” he said.
One of the things Emcays wanted to do was tell the story of struggle without infusing a lot of trauma, and instead provide a healing component. He also wanted to tell a story where community leaders are the heroes. Emcays believes that doing work that uplifts and betters the community is heroic and he wanted to reflect that in his narrative.
“Jail” is a metaphor for the Tower of Babel, from Genesis 11. In the Bible, the people built a tower to try to reach Heaven. The tower was crumbled, and the Babylonian people were divided into people with many languages.
“I wanted to speak to how our society, and particularly those at the top, are constantly striving to build this tower, this tower of status and material values and accumulating abundance. This tower gets taller and taller, without concern for the people who are working for it and the stability of it,” he said.
Through the film, the story of how people were building a tower, like the tower of Babel, that wasn’t sustainable and would crumble, is the main metaphor threaded through it. As society is being built out, Emcays believes there should be sustainability. He brought up the South and West sides of Chicago as examples of communities that have been forgotten while society moves forward, without consideration of these neglected communities.
At the end of the film, the last phrase is, “I guess it’s time for a rebuild.” It references an idea that there is an opportunity to rebuild with a new consideration, a new heart, with souls, humanity and
spirituality, first.
“Jail” is told through a voiceover narration instead of lines from the actors. Emcays did this because of the density he wanted to compile in 15 minutes that he couldn’t do with pure dialogue. When he wrote the voiceover, he wanted to add an extra layer to the film, weaving and tying everything together in a poetic way that wasn’t too direct or too juvenile. The narration is done by the actor Heavy Crownz, who also plays the lead character. He delivers the lines with depth from the community and the culture.
Emcays also wanted to reflect back to the Black Panther Party and their journey, to think about where history could have gone and creating a new path. Instead of members of the Black Panther Party being assassinated and murdered in their homes, Emcays wanted to write a narrative where they don’t get murdered or brutalized but they find a way to show strength and “enough is enough and not stoop to the level of their oppressor.”
Emcays hopes people will get relatability and wholeness out of the film. Even with the critique of police structure and political structure Emcays wants the film to be something that doesn’t feel divisive. He wants it to be holistic, without feeling shortsighted.
Emcays would like to see the short film as a full-length feature. It would take funding support. He is looking for a patron and would like to shoot the full-length feature this summer. He already has a script ready.
“It was very important for me to try to add to the catalogue of being able to create aa Black narrative, being able to create a Black voice, by a Black producer, by a Black writer, without it being sort of hijacked by some of the Hollywood influences,” he said.
For more information on “Jail,” visit emcaysfilm.com.
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