AE: Do you feel an emotional tie with those radical artists?
RE: That’s what kept my momentum going during the six years it took to make the film.

There were these incredible parallels that I felt with them: making a black film that was deemed risky and controversial; fighting for the right to tell that story; and telling the story in the way I felt in needed to be told, with a dual structure, going back between the past and the present.

AE: Is Brother to Brother filled with themes, theories and ideology about art?
RE: Well, you can’t layer theory or ideology on top of your work, but those things have influenced me and are part of me. I’ve absorbed a lot of it, and it kind of comes out in natural and organic ways.

I received my BA from Brown University in Modern Culture & Media/Film Production. They don’t let you make films until you go through a lot of theory. At the time, I found that really, really frustrating. I wanted to make films. I didn’t want to read these really dense, jargon laden theoretical texts that were really dry.

But looking back, I do feel it gave me a strong foundation in thinking about things like race and class and sexuality. And the ways those things are represented in art.

It’s also has had an influence on the ways that I tell stories. It’s given me a broad perspective on filmmaking, representation, and the ways people read and interpret what you do. I find that really important.

AE: What are your aspirations for the film?
RE: Ultimately, I hope the film is moving, and that the central relationship between the older character of Bruce and the younger character of Perry coming together and influencing each other, changing each others perspective, and experiencing a very profound and life-changing love is important. But ultimately, I want people to be moved by that central relationship.

I also hope audiences come away from the movie with a new found appreciation for the Harlem Renaissance, knowing the struggles and triumphs that a lot of these artists went through during the time period and that it will inspire them to go out and learn more.

And I hope Brother to Brother gives African American gay people a sense of history, and a feeling that they are not alone, and that these experiences have occurred for centuries and centuries, and that they do have a legacy, and shed light on that legacy.

AE: In a promotion piece by the Sundance Film Festival, they asked what movie you took your first date to. You replied you didn’t remember because you were too worried about making out. I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t ask: Do you remember anything else about that night?
RE: Yeah. It was actually with a woman, and I was about 17. I remember her. She’s an actress, and I can name her! Yeah, we did make out, but I still don’t remember the name of the movie.

That’s the great point of some movies; they inspire you to do other things. Of course during Brother to Brother, I hope people will be glued to the screen. They can get it on after that.

AE: Can I quote you on that?
RE: No, absolutely not! Well maybe. Of course you can.

Learn more about the movie at brothertobrotherthemovie.com

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