One day I was browsing the web and I was reading up on some Asian American issues. Somehow I came across a link to a film festival in San Francisco. It was called the SFIAAFF which stands for the San Francisco Asian American International Film Festival. I also knew of some people in a Facebook groups and some Asian American message boards that were buzzing about it. I read up on it and decided on a spur of the moment to attend it.

I had never been to San Francisco, but that didn’t stop me. I went to the CAAM (Center for Asian American Media) website and started looking at the prices of the shows that I wanted to see. The prices were basically the same as your local town’s movie theater. Of course, traveling costs came out of your own pocket. The staff of CAAM, in particular, Christine Kwon and Stephanie Kim, were available on hand to answer my every question when I called them. I was very grateful, because I knew they were consumed with the demands of the festival.

I looked over the films that I could squeeze in before returning back to North Carolina and my busy school schedule. I was looking for the most popular ones, but there were literally dozens of movies to see and different entertainment venues. Then I saw “Planet B-Boy”.

While growing up here in the States I remember the b-boy culture vividly. It was so fascinating. The dance moves they performed were amazing. I knew that “Planet B-Boy” would be a movie ticket that I would purchase.

When I went to go see the movie in Japantown’s Kabuki Theater, it was jam packed with people. There was an introduction speech about the movie before it began. Then the lights came down. The entire audience was pumped up with excitement. People in the audience were hanging onto every word that was muttered during the movie. I know I wasn’t the only one hanging on the edge of my seat. I remained intrigued by the life stories of the people featured in the movie. There were even local b-boy crews that were in the audience. After the screening, director and producer Benson Lee spoke about his movie and answered questions from the audience. When it was time to leave the theater there were smiles all over the peoples’ faces. I went down the aisle and introduced myself to Benson Lee. I began talking about how I enjoyed the movie and what I could do to help promote it. So it is my honor and pleasure to present this interview that I had with Benson Lee here on Ningin.

Benson Lee and Maimounah Masudi after the Planet B-Boy showing March 15, 2008

Maimounah: Please tell me about your background. Where were you born and where did you grow up?
Benson: I was born in Toronto, Canada. I was raised in my teen years in Philadelphia. I went to school in New York and I lived in Hawaii. I also lived in Paris and London. I then came back full circle to New York City again where I am currently based now.

Maimounah: Why did you move around so much?
Benson: I just really wanted to explore the world and to see what it had to offer and to learn from that whole experience while I was young.

Maimounah: What were your favorite places to go to and to visit?
Benson: Hawaii, because of its nature and it is amazing. Paris because of the movie culture. London. New York because it’s just New York. It’s a great place to be, because every culture and location offers something completely different. I can’t say I can favor one over the other to be honest.

Maimounah: What were your favorite sports in or outside of school?
Benson: I wasn’t really big on sports in college, but in high school I played baseball.

Maimounah: What were your hobbies?
Benson: Music is a part of my life. I listen to everything from hip hop to jazz to electro to classical.

Maimounah: Do you have any siblings?
Benson: Yes, I have a younger sister.

Maimounah: How, when, and why did you become a film director and producer?
Benson: I went to school in New York City, officially after high school. I attended the Fashion Institute of Technology. My father was involved in fashion. That didn’t work out for me. I went to NYU for a little bit, majoring in Marketing and that really wasn’t my calling either. I had a lot of friends in film school, majoring in film. I worked on their projects and I really enjoyed it. I always loved movies, but I never really had the courage to make the decision to become a filmmaker. Then I got really sick of New York and I moved to Hawaii. I made the decision that I would like to try film but the University of Hawaii did not have a film department. So I ended up joining the Media Club and making my own movies. I worked with actors from the Drama Department. I also studied merchandising, as a filmmaker you really can’t study just one thing. That’s where I was able to produce some short films. With those short films I was able to get into some film festivals. From that point on I really caught the bug in film making. But it wasn’t until I moved to Europe after I graduated from the University of Hawaii with a Liberal of Arts degree that I really tried to start working in the film industry. But it was really hard at that time, it was about the mid 90’s, it was hard to work in the film industry in Europe. Because I was in France and I didn’t speak French that well. I eventually moved to London and at that point their weren’t that many films being made in the terms of offering a lot of opportunities to young, aspiring film makers like myself. So I ended up writing my own screen play for a project called Miss Monday which was a feature and I was lucky enough to get financing from an old friend of mine. And I made that film. Then I came back to the states and I applied to the Sundance Film Festival. I was very fortunate to get the film into the Sundance Film Festival into the competition there. I didn’t really study film formally, but I did a lot of research and made films on my own. That’s essentially how I became a filmmaker and I started primarily in the late 90’s. “Planet B-Boy” is my first documentary.

Maimounah: What was your past film Miss Monday about and what inspired you to make it?
Benson: I decided to do Miss Monday, because I really wanted to do my first film. I shot it in London and I was really fortunate to get it into the Sundance Film Festival. It was a great and important experience, because I really learned a lot about the industry. My actress won best actor at Sundance. I got an Emerging Filmmaker award.

Maimounah: What are some of the struggles that entail the business of making movies
Benson: As an independent filmmaker I think one of the biggest struggles on the creative side is writing, developing your own stories and ideas. It takes a lot of time and it’s very challenging. It’s a big commitment, because it can take years. “Planet B-Boy” took me almost six to seven years of on and off research. I had to make connections in order to sort of get access into the world of b-boying. Screen plays are also really tough, because they take a lot of time to develop, especially a really good screen play. I think on the business side the most challenging thing is raising money to make movies. So if you’re not in the Hollywood system you have to work really hard working independently. That means you have to sort of play two roles: one the director and the other the producer to help secure financing for movies. They can be very expensive to make. Even a really low budget movie is very expensive when you’re out there asking people for their money. So that’s always very challenging.

Maimounah: What are the many joys you have experienced in making movies?
Benson: Definitely the process of making movies and creating stories. Formulating stories out of fiction or documentaries is really a rewarding experience, because you learn so much about not only the subject matter, but also a lot about life. That has a lot to do with the fact that you interact with a lot of people who bring their lives to your story. In that respect it is very humbling and also very profound in terms of what you learn. In making the movie in collaborating with people is a wonderful process too. It’s not easy, but when you’re able to make something out of nothing for particular people who are working toward the same vision it really is a fulfilling experience. It’s definitely not a job it’s more of a passion for a lot of people involved. When you show the final finished film to an audience and they respond in a way for which you intended them all to see it from watching your work that you collaborated with so many people in making the film, which is really an amazing experience. Then on top of that of course people get their own sort of interpretation that you weren’t even aware of and it makes them feel that they’re taking something away from the movie that is positive and insightful. That is probably one of the greatest feelings for any filmmaker.

Maimounah: Do you find it more difficult or do you find any difficulties in making films as an Asian-American in America?
Benson: No, I don’t. I know it would be different if I was an actor, because a lot of the opportunities that you get as an actor are based on what you look like. But as a filmmaker, because I’m not in front of the camera a lot of it nowadays has to do with your ideas and your ability to convey your story. I do not make a lot of films based solely on the Asian American experience although some people might think I do, because of “Planet B-Boy” there were a lot of Asian subjects in the documentary. That was never the intention. In that respect I don’t really think it’s hard. I think that it really depends on the subject matter if I was really focusing on the Asian experience then it might be difficult. But I’m really more into stories that appeal to broader audiences so I don’t think I see myself as having any struggles being related to my being Asian American. I see it all being related to my being a filmmaker who wants to do stories that are different.

Maimounah: I have seen your film “Planet B-Boy” at this year’s past SFIAAFF in March which I enjoyed thoroughly. What inspired you to make this film?
Benson: Thank you. When I was in high school back in the 80’s I saw all these break dance films when it first became really popular in the media. I was totally mesmerized by it and I tried it when I was younger. I thought it was the coolest thing. I never became a real b-boy but I always maintained my love for the dance. Ten years past into the late 90’s and I was very curious as to what happened to this dance form. I did a search on the internet and I discovered this whole culture that was still around but it had changed, evolved all around the world. Nobody really knew about it except for the people involved in the culture. That’s when I realized that a lot of people don’t even take it seriously and on top of that don’t even really know that it exists. But everybody knows about it because of its popularity from the 80’s. So I was inspired to sort of raise the awareness of b-boying as a dance form that was still around, stronger than before, in terms of the number of people that are involved and dedicated to it now. I really wanted to show people that hip hop has evolved and so is its dance element. They are not just a group of kids that are senselessly spinning on their backs on the street. There is an art to it. There is a dedication and passion. And it brings a lot of meaning to their lives. So that’s what inspired me to make it.

Maimounah: What is the origin of the b-boying?
Benson: B-boying is the element of hip hop dance culture that started in the Bronx of NYC in the 70’s. There are various elements that make up hip hop culture that a lot of people don’t know about. such as graffiti, MC-in’, DJ-in’, and b-boyin’. And b-boying is the dance heart of hip hop. The dance itself has its roots in actually a gang style dance that’s called “rocking” which was a dance form of expression for gangs to convey like a rumble or the types of things that happen when they have gang warfare. Then it kind of spread. It originally started with African American youth in the Bronx and then it kind of died down in the 70’s and then the Puerto Rican kids picked it up and sort of took it to the floor, doing stuff on the floor and that’s when b-boying really came into its own and it happened during the time when hip hop culture started in the Bronx of New York. So it has a very deep past and it all started in New York City.

Maimounah: How does it vary country to country?
Benson: When it became exported to different countries the people practicing b-boying learned the foundations of the art that started from the Bronx. Then people started adding their own influences to it that came inherently out of their own culture. With b-boying after you learn the basics, it promotes that you add your own flavor to it. Hip hop is very much like that. You have to add your own individuality to it, because it is an art. With b-boying I think you’re allowed to interpret a lot, but you must know the basic foundation of it.

In Korea there are more technical power oriented types of dance moves. That’s changing now too. There are some stereotypes for a lot of countries. France focuses a lot on style. America is a mix of everything. You can go into these countries and a b-boy crew will challenge the stereotypes of these countries as well. It really depends on the group in terms of what they accept or embrace from their culture or what they’re known for. You always have individual dancers or crews that totally challenge that. Like right now at this year’s Battle of the Year, Russia won. Russia brought like crazy dance flavor which was a combination of everything. So things are being redefined constantly. You can’t really say one country has this over the other anymore. B-boying continues to evolve.

Maimounah: I noticed that during the movie there were some b-girls that briefly told their story, but as for the world competition, the numbers of b-girls were minimal or non-existent. Why do you think that is so and do you see that changing soon?
Benson: It’s kind of like sports in a way. Where you have sports kind of separated by sex although it’s not an official rule in b-boying that you can’t have a girl in the crew, because there are some crews that have girls. B-girls have their own culture too and they are very organized. Not a lot of people know about them. A lot of them go to most of the big events and perform, compete in these events. You have b-girl crews, competitions, and basically they are there. There is a Planet B-Girl (meaning b-girls out there, not referring to a movie) and they are fierce on top of that, they are amazing dancers. Because the dance form is sort of physical and b-boy crews are predominantly males there is a division sometimes, in terms of it not being an equal number of girls or boys in a crew. But some famous crews have all female members and their presence is definitely there. Their numbers are increasing. If you want to exclude the sex and call b-girls and boys breakers, the general breaker population is definitely increasing.

Maimounah: Who were the most memorable crews from the b-boy competition featured in the “Planet B-Boy” movie and why?
Benson: That’s a really hard question. I can’t say that one b-boy crew is more memorable than the other. I’ve really become good friends with all of them, staying in contact with them. Every crew brought their own stories and experiences that were really memorable for me.

Maimounah: Have you seen the show “America’s Best Dance Crew”? Which crew was your favorite?
Benson: Yes. I supported Supercrew, because members of that crew were actually in my film. I think they did an amazing job promoting b-boying to the masses in the United States. That’s another way to support b-boy culture, supporting b-boys who are in the limelight.

Maimounah: What else do you plan on doing to promote b-boy/girl culture?
Benson: I think promoting “Planet B-Boy” on its own is a good way to promote the culture. Our DVD is coming out November 11th. We are really hoping that people who have seen the film will purchase the DVD and recommend it to their friends and also people who get the DVDs will have more access to this film so they can learn about it just like you did. I think that we’re all trying to promote the DVD and the film so people can get an inside view about the culture.

Please click on the “Planet B-Boy” link below to visit the website and order the dvd.

PLANET B-BOY

Tags: asian american, Benson Lee, Center for Asian American Media, Planet B-Boy, san francisco