5 Questions with Alexander Etseyatse
1) Can you talk briefly about your background, and how you first got interested in filmmaking?
Well I’m Nigerian American so my background childhood is split between Brooklyn, NY and Lagos, Nigeria. If you can guess how much I learned during those years you would be surprised. I first got interested in filmmaking the summer right before my first year of High School. I just became a cinephile, watching every movie at blockbuster and wondering how I can tell a story in this way but with people that look like me.
2) What was the initial idea for this project and how did it evolve from there?
The initial idea was to show three different stops by the LP. I was an LP way back in the day, so I had way too much material to put on the screen. But I’m so happy I went with one stop. It’s more personal and powerful to focus on one stop for the entire short and harder to pull off as well. So I had a lot of work to cut out for me.
3) What was the biggest challenge in making this film? And the easiest part?
The biggest challenge was getting the department store. We had a total of 6 hours all together to shoot in there. We shot the office scenes at NYU.
The easiest part was shooting at the department store. It’s was at Jeffrey New York.
4) What’s a film you’ve seen recently, new or old, that you really loved and why?
I recently caught “Coming to America”. I still loved that movie. For an Nigerian American like my self, it’s was very liberating to me. Seeing Africa in such beautiful light has always stay with me.
5) What’s next for you?
I got a feature film I’m gearing up to hopefully go into production next year called “Otis N’ The Dough Boyz”. It’s my passion right now.
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