Rosario Dawson in Explicit Ills

The old chestnut says to write what you know. You came from Philly and you're close to the story. How much of it is based upon yourself or people you know?
I wrote exactly what I know. It's a very personal story to me. A lot of it is drawn from my own personal life experiences. I grew up in poverty. I was homeless for two years. The movement that is in the film — The Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign — is a real movement in this country that my mother, Cheri Honkala, is a major part of. My mom is a huge human rights activist, so I've grown up protesting and marching. It makes up most of who I am, so there are a lot of real elements in the story. I also wanted to make an art film. I wanted to heighten the sense of reality, create beautiful imagery, and entertain. I wanted to make a film with a concrete, strong message, but not something preachy.

When you express your own beliefs in a narrative, is it difficult to write characters that are both believable and serve as mouthpieces for the creeds you want to convey?
Yeah, that was the trickiest part of the process for me. It's a hard thing to navigate around. Thankfully, in my acting and projects I've chosen, I like to err on the side of subtlety. I don't respond that well to things that are overwritten. I made my best effort to avoid that. I've run [into] the wall sometimes because it's hard when I'm at a meeting or demonstration, and someone's making a speech. It's very loaded, you know, there's a lot to be said in a short time frame. To try and implement things like that into a screenplay, it can seem heavy-handed, so it was a difficult thing.

I guess it's not a spoiler since you've brought it up, so I want to discuss the demonstration at the end of the film. When it comes to activist goals, like ending poverty, how much does demonstrating actually help when the undertaking is so massive?
I think it helps a lot. It's a tool that's been used for a really long time in various other movements, like the civil rights movement. It serves up a sense of solidarity and camaraderie in people. For me, as a little boy who was homeless, to be able to get together with other poor children and men and women, I didn't feel alone anymore. I started to realize that it wasn't my fault, and it opened my eyes to certain injustices and huge fundamental problems in this country. It became inspiring to me. A lot of people who are living in poverty, who don't have the basic human rights they deserve, can start to feel hopeless. Marching and rallying is empowering and uplifts your spirit. It's a way to communicate your message, to be seen and heard. It gave me hope that I have an ability to make changes.

As a fellow SXSW filmmaker, I'm curious if you feel the way I do, that filmmaking is one of the most masochistic professions out there. There are so many potential frustrations from conception to post-production. What kinds of first-time challenges did you experience?
Oh, you're so right, it was a struggle on a daily basis. My own perfectionism [was an issue], having to remind myself that some things I've learned as an actor [I'd have to] be prepared to let go of. I think it's very important as a director to manage, rehearse and have a strong, clear vision. But you also have to know when to ease up on the reins. I got some phenomenal performances out of these kids, but one of my main guys was seven years old, and his attention would go in and out of the moment. That was always tough to manage. The actual raising of the funds was nearly impossible at various points. Those sick thoughts that come into your head: "Oh, who do you think you are? You don't know what you're doing," [and I'd have] to silence that and remain confident in my ability. I also thought I was prepared and knew what I was doing, and I wanted to have all the control. But as soon as everyone — the production designer, the wardrobe, the DP, the locations manager and the line producer — all come up to you with 20 different questions, it can be overwhelming. Keeping your calm is always the most difficult thing. By the time I was done with filming, I was like, "Oh my God, I don't know how on Earth I'm ever going to do that again!" Then a week or two goes by: "God, I really want to do that again." That's a cyclical thing. I feel really honored and happy that I was able to do it. If it's the only film I make, I'm so proud of it, I've learned so much, and I'm well aware of how nearly impossible it is to make an independent film.