https://blackgirlnerds.com/navigating-grief-and-storytelling-in-to-live-and-die-and-live-a-conversation-with-skye-p-marshall-and-qasim-basir/

To Live and Die and Live is based on director and writer Qasim Basir’s journey with grief. Filmmaker Muhammad (Amin Joseph), has to return home to Detroit after the death of his stepfather. While having to deal with his stepfather’s funeral arrangements, he has to confront his own experiences with depression and addiction. He also meets Asia (Skye Marshall), a woman who just wants to have fun and live her life, causing him to question how he’s been living his own life. 

Black Girl Nerds is so grateful to speak with Skye Marshall and Qasim Basir about their experience in making this film.This interview has been edited for time and clarity. 

BGN: In the press release, Qasim, you named that witnessing George Floyd’s death during the pandemic was part of the influence when it comes to this film. My question is about the intentionality behind that as well as when it comes to writing and directing; Skye, when it comes to acting on a project where the pandemic is real. 

Skye P. Marshall: I think one of my first scenes playing Asia was a night club scene. To have the real dancing energy there was so infectious! And actually helped my performance! He had all of our tested crew members surrounding me as background dancing and pointing their lights at me from their phones.

Qasim Bashir: The lights went out.

SM: That’s right! Isn’t that so creative? “Point your flash at Skye so she can be lit.” The fact that he was able to maneuver in the moment was butter for me. My scenes were all outside after that. So I felt safe. I felt protected. I got to experience Detroit for the first time in her new renaissance glory. 

BGN: Qasim, what was it like for you, filming during that time?

QB: It was difficult, the physical nature of it. It was a lot to cover. Those years, as Black folks, we pushed some things down, in the way of just accepting you might get pulled over and humiliated by an officer or something. Then just go to school [or something] the next day like that never happened. 

I had one small child, another baby on the way, that was born by one of our producers [Samantha Basir] in the middle of shooting. All of that contributed to this, like…oof. This is that, this is life, this is art, all happening right now.  The story is about my stepfather who passed away and the week I came to town. But since that happened, while we were in post, my biological father died. My sister in law died. I lost two cousins. My uncle. We were like, “What is going on?” It was an intensely emotional time. I think what a lot of us do, we put it into the art.

SM: From the performer’s side, I will say, my brain doesn’t know all the time that I’m playing make-believe if I allow myself to use the right imagery. If I can relate to any form or fashion to that level of pain, that level of betrayal or uncertainty — which I have experienced consistently — if I allow myself to hijack the character, my body will literally start responding. The fact that I have [people watching me], it is in the carpool lane of healing. Through that honesty and vulnerability, my body releases the toxicity of pent up emotions.

Grief will never stop. No one really teaches you how to grieve. It’s easy for the mental health to break when you don’t know what to do with all these feelings. Like in the film, having to plan for a funeral, I just had to do this for my brother. But I still need to process, I still need to cry, but I gotta pay seven grand for this, and you want me to pick out a coffin and flowers? [Throws two middle fingers up] You can’t! 

BGN: Speaking of grief and funerals, not only does this film do a great job of portraying the bureaucracy that often comes with death, this is one of the very few films I’ve seen the portrayal of Muslim funerals and Muslim burial processes. What stands out to me is when Muhmmad says, “You need less than three days to bury the body.” But less than twenty-four hours is most preferred for Muslim burials. Not only are there barriers when it comes to Black Muslim life, there are barriers when it comes to Black Muslim death. Qasim, it’s a recurring theme in your work done so beautifully. Skye, I’m curious about your perspective playing Asia, who is more spiritual than religious, as she has conversations with Muhammad. 

QB: It should be that everyone should be able to tell their story. But that’s not the case. There is a tremendous imbalance in the way certain people have been portrayed. Some people have not been portrayed at all. Coming up in a community that is amongst that group that really never had a voice on screen, I feel a responsibility towards folks. 

What more could you want to do than highlight [your community] and make them feel like they have a voice too? The more nuance we discuss through these characters, the more balance we can have in this world. 

SM: Amen…Can I invest in your next project please?

[Everyone laughs joyfully]

SM: [Qasim], your work is so intentional. And that’s what I want to be a part of. I’m happy to play the white lady’s best friend in all of these shows that I have done. But I have great creative teams that allow me to still be a strong character. Not just stare at the white gaze. I want to expand exactly what you’re speaking about. That was one of the most beautiful funeral scenes I’ve ever seen [in To Live and Die and Live]. The mother in the white, and the siblings! Ah! The music, the washing of [the stepfather’s body]. It was just phenomenal work. 

BGN: What makes the intimate moments between Muhammad and Asia so important? Asia says, “I don’t need a doctor telling me I only have one or two months to live. I’m just gonna live.”

SM: The quote that you just stated, I live by that, prior to receiving Asia and after shooting [as] Asia. The work I was able to do with Amin Joseph in that scene in the hotel room, in the window, that was one of the most beautiful, most powerful scenes I ever done as an actor. We were just so free! That is a gift. 

[Qasim’s writing] makes the characters so smart, even in the midst of tragedy. To be so smart and so lost at the same time. I think that’s what makes the chemistry so beautiful. We both had this wall, and we both found the crack in the castle wall. 

QB: She talks about the screenplay, but it does not matter if you don’t have performances like these. 

To Live and Die and Live is currently playing in theaters.

The post Navigating Grief and Storytelling in ‘To Live and Die and Live’: A Conversation with Skye P. Marshall and Qasim Basir appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.