‘I Think Humor Makes Darker Material Accessible’ by BLAST BEAT’s Ana Souza, A Film About Undocumented Life, Metalheads, and Brotherhood

ANA SOUZA

PRODUCER — Blast Beat Movie

Film Courage: What was life like when you emigrated to Amsterdam from Brazil?

Ana: It was very, very difficult, mostly on a cultural level. We moved when I was 11 so I lost a lot of friends in the process and I just had trouble connecting with everyone because I was missing the openness and optimism of Brazil, where it seemed that everyone would go out of their way to help you or make you feel welcome. It was tough to adjust for a while, but eventually I also fell in love with Amsterdam and now it’s one of my favorite places in the world (though I can do without the weather!). I think being in an international school and seeing other people going through the same experience and trouble adjusting really helped me as well.

Ana and her sister

Film Courage: Biggest lesson from attending film school?

Ana: Collaboration. I think filmmakers have a lot of different egos and opinions (myself included of course!) but film school teaches you to keep these at a reasonable level and learn to collaborate with others so that you all bring the best of yourselves to a project and learn to respect each other’s views. Filmmaking is almost impossible solo so building good working relationships and finding people who complement your strengths and weaknesses in the creative process is crucial. Plus, it is so much more satisfying to be working towards something as a group and have it come to fruition!

Film Courage: How do you think living in Brazil, Amsterdam, England and Los Angeles has shaped who you are/your world view?

Ana: It’s expanded how I see the world and how I see virtually everyone I meet. It reminds me that differences between people are not good or bad, they are just differences, and this helps me keep me a clear head. I feel like the world is too large to stay in one place and traveling is still one of my favorite things ever. ‘Global citizen’ and ‘third culture kids’ are terms that tend to refer to specific groups but I hope that in the future it just becomes something everyone can relate to. We are all so much more connected than ever before (especially through the internet and the media) that there is no excuse to stay within your four walls and maintain a narrow mind anymore.

Film Courage: From the Director’s Vision on the BLAST BEAT Kickstarter page, it talks about possibly taking two years to “fit in” upon leaving one’s homeland for the U.S. How long did it take you to feel like fitting in amongst all your travels? Which country made you feel most welcome?

Ana: I think it was like a muscle, the more I worked at it, the easier it got. Moving to the Netherlands was difficult and it took me about a year (roughly) to adjust, I’d say. But once I had that under my belt and moved to England, it became easier. Starting from scratch is always scary but it’s also thrilling and opens up a whole new avenue of possibilities and new people. I think the US has been of the countries to make me feel most welcome, as everyone has been very friendly and I’ve found it easy to connect with people in Los Angeles as so many people have creativity in common and a mutual passion for film. It’s exciting to be in a place where so many people are working towards keeping independent film alive and thriving.

Film Courage: Why is BLAST BEAT using humor to shed light on a serious issue?

Ana: I think the issue speaks for itself in its seriousness, so our humor is a way of turning the system on itself. The whole legal terminology of calling immigrants ‘aliens’ is pretty absurd and dehumanizing (and speaks to the way immigrants are often treated), so our promos have transformed this metaphor into reality to poke fun at the whole notion and make people realize that it’s ridiculous. I think humor often makes darker material accessible and helps people easily understand what’s at stake (Read more of Ana’s story and about BLAST BEAT here)

BIO:

Ana was born in São Paulo, Brazil and moved to Amsterdam at the tender age of 11, where she had trouble navigating the high-speed bike paths at first. She quickly adapted, however, and found herself a lover of all things film-related when she hopped over the channel to England for her BA in Film Studies at the University of Warwick. Not content with one degree and exasperated with the rain, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue an MA at the University of Southern California, where she graduated in 2014 after producing a number of short films and even more Critical Studies essays. She has since become obsessed with film festivals, undertaking work for Outfest, AFI FEST, Slamdance, the Los Angeles Film Festival, No Budget Film Festival, NEXT Fest, Cannes, Sundance, the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, and Ambulante California. She’s also kept up her writing through publications like Indiewire, We Eat Films, The Artifice, and Front Row Reviews. She will happily argue with you about the brilliance of Spring Breakers or who can do the best Werner Herzog impression. Ana likes making up for the time spent watching movies with being outdoors. She has a national park pass this year so her goal is to hit up amazing landscapes for as long as she can withstand the lack of cell phone signal. That is, when she’s not busy rallying for indie films and her latest project in particular, Blast Beat.