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How director Stella Meghie is capturing Black love in ‘The Photograph’

Stella Meghie is a creative and driven new film director whose movies paint poignant and profound portraits of love, life, and companionship.

Meghie’s newest film, The Photograph, is her most anticipated one yet, starring Lakeith Stanfield as a journalist writing a story on a recently-passed photographer, and Issa Rae as the photographer’s estranged daughter. It comes out in the United States on February 14, 2020.

Meghie is a specialist in delicately-crafted romance-comedies, and The Photograph looked to be just one of the genre. However, there are clear indications that this film is going to be delightfully unique, with a story deeply personal to Meghie and two brilliant actors in Stanfield and Rae.

“My grandmother was about to meet a daughter that she had when she was very young that went to live with her father that she hadn’t seen in almost 30 years,” Meghie mentioned in an interview about how this story’s idea was personal.

“‘What would it be like if you thought about someone every single day for 30 years, but didn’t see them and love them?’ Then I kind of flipped it from a familial thing to a romantic thing,” Meghie added.

 

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Meghie is from Toronto, Ontario, and worked as a public relations agent in New York City before returning to school to get a degree in screenwriting.

“It just wasn’t as creative as I wanted it to be,” Meghie recalled. “So I decided to take a chance and quit, and go back to school.”

That chance worked out wonderfully for her, as she already has three films under her belt since 2016. Meghie’s path shows that it is never too late to change your direction, never too late to pursue your dreams.

Meghie’s first film was titled, Jean of the Joneses, a movie about a complicated Jamaican-American family in Brooklyn. This film explores culture, community, and family, and Meghie drew upon her own experiences and family when crafting the film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHsm1kHXaU0

Next came Everything, Everything, a romantic drama film about an 18-year-old girl who is restless because she is unable to leave her home. She eventually finds solace in her neighbor where a budding romance emerges.

Finally, Meghie directed her third film in the span of three years, a comedy titled The Weekend, revolving around a comedian who is obsessed with her ex’s new girlfriend and a guest during a weekend getaway.

The Canadian director predominantly casts black actors in her movies and focuses on black love. The personal narratives of love, life, and relationships she creates are important for purposes of representation for the average person of color to witness.

We’re hyped to see Stanfield and Rae in love on the big screen as soon as next week. Meghie is a budding star in the film industry; keep an eye out for her name going forward.