Allyson D. Brown: Uplifting Liberian Storytelling for Change

Interview by: Isabel Appio

Inspired by her innate love for storytelling, Allyson D. Brown’s journey into film began with writing children’s literature. Her breakthrough major feature, No, Not Me! received global accolades and was selected for a special screening at Pavillon Afriques, Cannes this past May. As a filmmaker, Brown’s themes face societal issues and taboos in Liberia head on, using the power of narrative as a tool for reflection and change.

Could you kindly share a brief overview of your background, and how you became connected with the African and American film industries?

I have an African mother and an American father. They got married in the fifties and moved to Liberia. I’m actually an African-American and an American-African in the true sense of the word.

After high school I went to college in the States and later moved to Abidjan where I worked as an insurance executive for over 15 years. Then I moved to Ghana for about three years, Cameroon for one year, then to Togo for eight years, and then to the States for three years and back to Liberia in 2017. Therefore, African social issues are not foreign to me.

During my time in Togo, I discovered my love and gift in filmmaking. My first film - The Best Jungle Christmas — was a puppet movie. I also made an African children’s movie — The Butterfly and the Rainbow based on my book, Le Papillon et l’Arc-en-Ciel. Once I made those children’s movies, I was hooked on filmmaking!

I was introduced to Liberian-born, award-winning filmmaker Gerald K Barclay (Gee-Bee) who is co-director on No, Not Me! We met and we just hit it off. I’ve been fortunate. No, Not Me! is described as “a love story which unfolds amidst the social issues of Female Genital Mutilation and the plight of ex-child soldiers who are now adults. It is a poignant tale of love in challenging times.”

What motivated you to make the film?

First of all, I wanted to deal with the social issues in Liberia. Even though life has improved and there’s stability, there’s still so many things that need to be adjusted and addressed. Also, I wanted to show Liberia in a more positive light instead of only war and Ebola. I learned a lot making this film because I didn’t know anything about village life. I had to go to the village and pay money to build a hut so that we could film in this hut and learn about village life in general and how the people are so hooked on the tradition of FGM. We had the launch and Karine Barclais, Founder of Pavillon Afriques recruited the film to be in the pavilion, at the 77th Cannes Film Festival last May. It went very well and I’m totally grateful to Karine and her team. No, Not Me! has received positive accolades globally. What is the transformative potential of the film?

There are a lot of people who didn’t even know that FGM was being practiced in Liberia and other parts of Africa. They thought it was an old, old wives’ tale from way back in the day, and that no one was still practicing it. So I think that there’s enlightenment, that yes, this is happening here. We have 16 tribes, out of the 16 tribes, only three of them do not practice FGM. I think that’s a very good point I make, when I speak about FGM.

There have been a few attempts to ban FGM, and they usually ban it for a year, maybe two years, but they never totally abolish it and call it a crime, because a lot of the relatives, your mother, your sisters or friends, your aunties, everybody’s in it. If the men who are mostly parliamentarians or who are in the legislature, if they come out and say, well, listen, you know, we are against our mothers and our sisters, it’s a huge debate. I think with time, the younger people, things will change, but not with those that are there right now.

What is your scriptwriting process?

I’m someone who dreams a lot, and everything that I write normally comes from a dream. I dreamt the entire story of No Not Me! I woke up in the middle of the night, put the key points down, and went back to sleep. When I got to Liberia and saw there was a problem with the disadvantaged youth - I had been walking in my neighborhood with a friend and her pocketbook got snatched off her shoulders by these young men - that’s when I decided to beef it up with that.

As the digital creative economy creates opportunities for some disadvantaged youth, what is needed to include more marginalised young people in this thriving global sector? Well, I’m so embarrassed to say this because I love Liberia, it’s one of my two homes. But it’s embarrassing that we have a country that has a population of about 5 million people, 80% under 40 years old. Of those 80% young people, not even 50% of them are educated with high school education. To make it worse, the educational system needs a lot of improvement, it is not progressive. On top of that, we have a serious shortage of electricity and clean pipeline water.

Where do you start?

I think you probably need to start with the electricity first, so that if you have a school, you have lights and water, and then you beef up the school system so the kids can go to school, also there are many others who are in their forties. They have families now, so they need rehabilitation. Adult literacy programs. Because yes, everyone has a phone. Everybody’s on TikTok and everybody in Liberia goes to church. But do you know, they can’t even read anything in that Bible that they’re holding, and they can’t understand standard English. So you ask me, how do I start? Those that are in the educated group, they can profit from all the digital advances, and they are putting some wonderful things out on the media. There are some beautiful movies out there, shorts, comedies all of that.

But the majority cannot benefit from this opportunity for various reasons: minimal education or perhaps they live in a region where there is no or limited electricity or they cannot afford to buy data for their cell phones, plus the fact that it makes better sense for a hungry person to buy food instead of data.

How do you see your role as a storyteller?

Like anyone else in this whole wide world - you are born with a gift and storytelling just happens to be one of my gifts. I’ve been telling stories since I was eight years old. My youngest brother loved birthday parties. He convinced my parents to have four birthday parties each year. My job was to provide the entertainment for these parties. You see, I would rewrite Liberian folktales as skits, then sew puppets with African fabrics, and finally build a puppet theatre from palm branches.

The other part of storytelling is I love to encourage people because we lived in a very depressed country. The storytelling, it can go both ways. It can sort of relieve your tension and give you relaxation and make you laugh, but it can also make you reflect on your issues and what needs to be addressed, which is what I really like to do.

Are there any significant funding frameworks available in Liberia to support filmmakers, and the advancement of a local sustainable film industry?

Well, for me, I just begged everybody I knew to please sponsor me. Somehow it worked out okay. But I admire the Nigerian moviemakers in the way they can stretch a dollar. Resourceful! I need to go there and ask somebody, ‘how do you stretch this money to be able to make a fully-fledged movie with US$10,000?’ I have no idea. They do it in Liberia as well. But I’m one of these people who sees everything in my mind before I do it. I see my costumes, I see the colors, and I travel and buy everything for my movies. It’s not like I’m going to ask you to wear your own clothes - ‘just wear blue.’ I buy all the props, everything. Also, I was very fortunate that I had two cinematographers that had Red cameras, which is what I wanted, and very hard to find in Liberia.

Regarding funding in Liberia, I have not heard of any organisations that specifically grant finances to filmmakers. Filmmakers may be able to convince businesses to be sponsors. But it’s difficult. From my personal experience, a filmmaker must rely on personal funds and assistance from family and friends. My present concern is getting a distributor for No, Not Me! That is a project in itself!

Your next feature film also address societal and taboo issues. How is production progressing?

The film is written now. I’m just beefing it up. Coming back to live in the States, it’s like going to school all over again. That’s one of the wonderful things about being here right now, because I’m watching, I‘m looking, I’m absorbing as much as I can that can be transported to my little world when I make a movie.

Whatever I do, my main goal is to uplift Liberia through film, in any way that I can, as best as I can.

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Allyson D. Brown, Writer, Filmmaker, Businesswoman

In “No, Not Me,” a film by Allyson D. Brown, inspired by her relocation to Liberia after 40 years, a love story unfolds amidst the social issues of Female Genital Mutilation and the plight of ex-child soldiers who are now adults. Starring Frank Artus, Shoana Cachelle, Selassie Mends-Cole, and Susan Wleh, the film follows a Liberian couple’s journey to prove that love can conquer all obstacles, while also addressing the mounting security concerns caused by disadvantaged youth. It is a poignant tale of love in challenging times.