Dottin Uncovers Own Truth in A-Alike
 | | Randy Dottin with students, faculty and parents |
In Randy Dottin's award-winning film, A-Alike, the two characters struggle with the realization that, as brothers, they are both "a-like, b-alike and c-alike." The film, a metaphor about Dottin and his own brother's journey, is also a journey for the black community.
"We all make choices which end up defining who we are, but in the end we realize we're more the same than different from one another," Dottin said.
Dottin, a former Nobles faculty member, spoke to more than 50 students, faculty, staff, parents, alumni and friends in Towles Auditorium. After screening the poignant 25-minute film, Dottin led the audience into an informal question and answer session about his directorial decisions, challenges in producing the film and upcoming projects. The event was hosted by webmaster Dawud Brown '94 and the Nobles affinity group he advises, Brother 2 Brother. Dottin was joined by Maurice Coleman, also a former Nobles faculty member and executive producer of A-Alike.
The film depicts two brothers, one a successful partner at a law firm and the other about to be released from prison after four years. Throughout the movie, the brothers try to reconcile their relationship and ultimately discover that although their paths were vastly different, their struggle with their identities is the same. "They realize they are cut from the same cloth," Dottin said.
In making the movie, Dottin drew from his own experiences. As a child, Dottin learned the art of "code switching," or accommodating two lifestyles, in order to survive and ultimately succeed. "A-Alike is about the two sides of who I am and the two sides of my own experiences. I grew up in the projects, yet I was attending elite schools."
Dottin attended St. Sebastian's School and, with the help of a scholarship, was able to continue onto Dartmouth and Columbia. The Nobles connection was established when Dottin studied at St. Sebastian's---one of his teachers was Nobles English teacher Alden Mauck. At Nobles, Dottin taught English from 1998-1999 and was also an Upward Bound teacher from 1996-1999. Dottin and Coleman were instrumental in putting a face to diversity. Dottin helped found the Nobles Multicultural Students' Association's Senior Legacy Dinner. Coleman, senior vice-president at Bank of America, founded Nobles' Brother 2 Brother. | | Maurice Coleman (left) and Randy Dottin |
His first film, or "child," as he refers to A-Alike, has garnered much success. After writing the film for his MFA thesis, it was picked up by HBO and Cinemax. A-Alike has also won coveted awards including the Directors' Guild of America Award for Best African-American Student Filmmaker, a National Board of Review for Motion Pictures Award for Achievement in Filmmaking, a two-year licensing contract with HBO/Cinemax and the Gold medal in the Narrative Category at the Student Academy Awards. Dottin, Coleman and Randy's brother, Ron, recently formed their own company: Middle Passage Filmworks.
Upcoming film projects include two short films, Lifted and Indelible. Dottin, who was recruited by Fox Searchlight Films in order to produce Lifted, hopes to raise enough money to begin shooting this summer in Boston and New York. The short film depicts a young woman who comes into contact with her spiritual guardian in the subway after she leaves her son because she is distressed.
Dottin's second film, Indelible, is about an African-American female scientist racing to find a cure for the deadly disease that took the life of her husband and threatens her teen-age son. Dottin was awarded a $100,000 Alfred P. Sloane Foundation Feature Film Grant in order to produce Indelible and plans to being shooting next summer.
A-Alike, which cost $30,000 to make, was both physically and emotionally challenging. The biggest challenge for Dottin was raising the money for the film. "No one wants to give money to an unknown filmmaker," he said. Luckily, the money was raised with the help of various fundraisers.
Two days before the shooting was scheduled to begin, Dottin's lead actor quit to be in a commercial with Busta Rhymes. This last-minute complication cost Dottin $4,000 after shutting down the set to recast and rehearse. The new actor did not know how to drive, so in all the scenes where the main actor is driving, the car had to be placed on a flatbed truck.
Emotionally, Dottin admits he had to "force myself to dig deep into my past in order to tell this story. My experiences and dealing with the formation of my identity were affected. All the issues I had [at my independent school] came out. The film was a process of discovering my own truth, both the good and the bad." However, he said the film could not have been made had he not been a product of independent schools. "A-Alike is a universal story. It's ultimately about the love it takes to break us free."
Date: 4/29/2005
By: Fabiana Montoya Scanlan
|
|
Print version of page
Email page to a friend