FUNKY HISTORY PLUS SOME THEORIES

A long meditation on funk by me in three sections

In organizing documentaries I direct, I often put myself in front of the camera early in the process. I use my footage to help create the template for the story and then, as I do more interviews and find archival, use to them to explore the areas I need covered. So I often in up the final cut, but more as an transitional element. Basically I’m a place holder during the editing process that as my editor and I to lay out piece.

These three clips were shot in my old Fort Greene apartment in the summer of 2012 before I’d done most of the interviews. The clips make me very nostalgic since that was my favorite apartment in the thirty plus years I lived in that Brooklyn neighborhood and the Public Enemy poster used to sit in a bedroom window most of that time (a gift from the film producer/director Lisa Cortes, who once worked at Def Jam.) Moreover Finding the Funk was a challengung experience since I had to rethink the approach a few times during shooting. Still grateful to Arthur Baker for the title and idea, and Amir Thompson for doing the narration. At the bottom of this page is a link to the film.

More out takes from the film are on my YouTube page with more still to come.

https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Funk-Ahmir-Questlove-Thompson/dp/B08DTBW5QG

Above a link to the film on Amazon.