Talking To: Pierre Niyongira

Pierre Niyongira is already making waves in the film industry; a film graduate from UWE, Pierre is now a freelance filmmaker, creating films around the world. His works shine a light on current affairs as well as the past, intertwining them in order to create important discussions.

Having won several awards already for his previous films, he has recently completed a film with the backing of Arts Council England and BBC Arts. We caught up with him to see where he’s been, what he is doing and where he’s going next.

What started your passion with film? Are there any influences that really kick-started your passion and was this always something you wished to do? 

I’ve always loved stories; I am a storyteller. Growing up I was obsessed with anime and wanted to move to Japan and become an animator. Unfortunately, as I painfully discovered I wasn’t a great drawer or had the patience for it. However, I always had the image and story in mind, it was just a matter of finding a medium to output. So, I was 16, when I brought my first camera which was a canon AE-1, an old school analog. I loved photography, especially film photography. It all came natural in the sense that; with cameras you can see the image through the lens and all you have to do is capture it. From then on, I had found something that I was actually good at and I just kept doing it and then it developed into music videos, YouTube videos, documentaries and then film. 

How was your university experience? Was it a positive one? 

Moving to Bristol was the best thing, I really developed and found myself. I think that’s what university should really be about. Exploring, experimenting and finding like-minded people, for once I wasn’t the only one that was obsessed with creating art, sharing ideas and stories. Of course, it also had its downsides, being black in Bristol especially in the creative industry you definitely feel like an outsider. But times are changing and it’s never been better being a person of colour in the creative arts, as representation is so important, as well as the unique stories that come with it. 

How do you get your inspirations for the films you create? Do you see the story first then the individual shots and frame? 

I have had different approaches to all my films but majority of the time it all stems from an idea, an experience or an image or song. I feel inspiration comes in all forms and the story you envision at the start will take a life of itself and develop and change as you proceed through production and post production. The hardest part is always finding the inspiration, there is a saying by the great Martin Scorsese that “the most personal is the most creative” and I feel if you can draw from your own experiences then you can never really go wrong. 

Do you use the same crew and team members for the majority of your films or do you try and use different people depending on the film you are creating? 

Within the film industry it’s conventional to stick with the same crew because film production is such an intense experience and you really see the highs and lows within the team so it makes sense to have someone who you have good creative chemistry with. For example, with my recent major projects, I have worked with Guillermo Quintanilla-Pinto as my producer and he is someone that I can trust and have developed a great working relationship. But depending on the type of production it’s also good to have a bit of variety and be open to new collaborations, which will grow your network. 

Our City Your Eye was made in Senegal! What was it like to film out there? Did you always plan on making a film in another country? 

The whole Our City Your Eyes project was such a unique experience, I was sent out there with a Spoken Word Artist from Bristol named Splitz P. We worked together to create a short poetic documentary encompassing Senegal and its vibrant upcoming creative youthful society. So for 2 weeks, we lived in a country where we didn’t speak the language but we did so much during that period, met so many artists, explored, filmed, edited and showcased our film in front of an audience at the end. The highlight was visiting Goree Island, one of the first places in Africa to be settled by the Europeans, so it had all these colonial buildings and was a stopping port before taking slaves across the atlantic, into the Americas and Europe. That was a very profound experience for both I and Joel (Splitz P). I never planned on filming in another country and I had ever heard of Senegal before but I am very grateful to have experienced it all and that will stick with me for the rest of my life. 

Two of your short films won RTS awards [one of them being Our City Your Eye] – was that a proud moment for you? 

It was an extremely proud moment for me. I was very shocked because I never really thought much of my films, I just created. Plus I tried entering my Our City Your Eyes into festivals but it never got accepted into any. So two years later, I find out that my teachers from uni have entered my films into the RTS awards and have been selected. It was crazy. I have never won any forms of trophies ever in my life and growing up I was quite envious of kids that had a collection of medals and trophies so it was definitely a highlight for me. 

Good Grief won silver at straight 8 film festival in London – how was that for you? Was shooting in that way quite different to what you normally do? 

A big yes! It was my first time shooting on super 8 film, really old school filmmaking, so no digital playback to see what you’ve shot or no deleting off footage and plus what was unique with the straight 8 competition was that there was no post-production, no editing, which in this case would be physically cutting the film. All the film was all-camera edit, so there was no room for error. I feel this experience was one of the most creative periods of my life and definitely a memorable one. A big thanks to my close creative partner who I worked with one this intense project with Ellis Fox. 

Do you aim to use your platform to amplify other voices and shine a light on different cultures and experiences? 

I feel this is what now fuels me as a filmmaker and photographer, I am always trying to capture stories from minorities, different points of view because there isn’t just one objective truth or one story. 

Moreover, these stories don’t often get represented in mainstream media and as a result we miss out on the intrinsic beauty of the world and other people’s culture, beliefs and way of thinking. When it comes to the subject of minorities, what interests me is identity, how minorities identify themselves, whether it’s their ethnicity, nationality, culture, religion or their own personal philosophy. 

Let’s talk about your latest short film, Dinah – it’s quite an apt film with everything going on at the moment [the toppling of the Colston statue still being quite prominent in the news], where did you first hear the story of Dinah Black? 

Originally the film was more centred around Edward Colston, I had mapped and written scenes all revolved around the statue and his ghost that still lingers through the city. However, after the toppling of the statue, I decided to take a different approach and rewritten the narrative but still have references to Colston. I wanted this new approach because people now knew of him so that allowed me to further go deeper and explore more of that Georgian period and history that still lives on throughout the city. I came into contact with a local historian, Dr.Madge Dresser and she enlightened me on the story of Dinah and I was hooked from then on and started writing. 

What inspired you to make her story the focus of your film? 

I have always been an advocate of true stories and events, I feel in history there is much to explore and create. For me Dinah Black was one of those gems, those hidden real stories that you had to really dig out for. She is noted as one of the first recorded black people in England, and among those whose lives are most fully recorded, as a black enslaved african woman in Bristol, it's amazing that she was even mentioned in the pages of history. So this film is to her and the others like her who have gone unmentioned and their stories untold.

It was funded by Arts Council England and BBC Arts which is incredibly impressive! How did that come about? Did you have to pitch the story to them? 

This was part of the new creatives initiative, run by calling the shots in the south west. It’s a talent development scheme that offers commissioning opportunities for emerging artists to create works in film, or audio or interactive media, designed for BBC platforms. Out of 100 or so applications, 11 creatives get selected and I was one of the few. I had to go through multiple rounds but in the end they seemed to like my film idea that I had submitted, so if you want to get a film made, just have a really solid and unique story to tell. 

When do you plan on releasing the film? 

So the film has been made and is ready for broadcasting but it is currently owned by the BBC for a temporary period until they decide to launch it which should be at some point in November/December period. We don’t have a set date yet as the other 10 or so creatives are still finishing off their projects but I will keep updating everyone on the Dinah instagram page, @theDinahfilm, where we post BTS pictures and trailers. 

What’s next for you? Do you hope to create a feature length film one day? Do you hope to continue to shine a light on less well-known stories and amplify minority voices?

So I have just moved to London and started a new job as a Junior Account Executive creating branded content videos at a PR and communications agency. The life of an artist isn’t very financial so this is a brilliant opportunity for me to still hone and work on my skills as a filmmaker but also save up and invest in future aspirations and projects. I will still continue creating films and being in London I feel will open up a lot more opportunities for me to continue creating stories that will amplify the minority voices.

You can watch the Dinah trailer here: https://www.pierreniyongira.com/dinah

And you can keep up with Pierre here: https://www.pierreniyongira.com/