Director Stefon Bristol Talks His Majestic and Very Black Debut Feature 'See You Yesterday' [Tribeca Interview]

Filmmaker Stefon Bristol has always been drawn to sci-fi and superhero genres. While audiences have relished in the escapism elements of these genres since Georges Méliès' 1902 sci-fi flick A Trip to the Moon, Bristol was enticed by them for their capacity to be more than escapism for Black viewers. 

In the age of Black Lives Matter, Bristol's debut feature film See You Yesterday uses time travel to empower Black youth to deal with trauma in their community. See You Yesterday follows besties C.J. (Eden Duncan-Smith) and Sebastian Thomas (Danté Crichlow), two Brooklyn kids who uncover the secret for time traveling while working on a school science project. The duo put their newfound knowledge to work when the police murder C.J.'s older brother, Calvin (Brian "Astro" Bradley).

Bristol originally produced See You Yesterday as a short film to great acclaim for his graduate school thesis at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where Spike Lee was his professor and mentor. Now, with Lee as a producer, Bristol has expanded the short into the feature film for Netflix that premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival.

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Photo via Instagram.

BlackStar Film Festival Spotlight: Time travel & police brutality collide in 'See You Yesterday,' exec produced by Spike Lee

Loss often feels unfathomable — a festering wound that never quite seems to heal. All-consuming at times the weight of it all bears down on you. It becomes the sole object of your focus, the pain and heartbreak demand every ounce of emotion that you have. In some instances, the overwhelming sense of sadness might cause you to do some shocking things. In his superb short film See You Yesterday, director Stefon Bristol explores the anguish of losing a loved one through the lens of science fiction. (Think J.D. Dillard’s Sleight or the Black Film & TV Collective’s web series, Keloid.)

Set in Brooklyn and executive produced by Spike Lee, the film follows quirky teen CJ (Eden Duncan-Smith) and her best friend Sebastian (Dante Crichlow). Devastated by the untimely death of her older brother Calvin (Parish Bradley), CJ is determined to fix it. She and  Sebastian build a time machine with the hopes of returning to the past and changing the course of events that led to Calvin's shocking death.

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.