Thursday 11:25 am November 14, 2024, Hotel Kung Karl, Stockholm. Film director RaMell Ross and director of photography Jomo Fray are visiting the city and conducting a series of activities presenting their film Nickel Boys. As we sat for our interview, one of many interviews they have already been giving in a row, we start joking about them already feeling the Stockholm Syndrome. Yes, Stockholm is cold, yes, they arrived late to the hotel and barely got any sleep and now they have to sit interview after interview with the numerous Swedish media channels but they are loving the royal treatment they’ve been getting by the festival organisers, as they call it in their own words and the luxury of the hotel so they wouldn’t mind staying a bit longer. Little do they know that they are minutes from receiving the best treatment ever – the award for Best Film at the Stockholm International Film Festival.
Here’s the conversation I had with RaMell Ross and Jomo Fray where we talked about Nickel Boys, how they first came in contact with the book by Colson Whitehead, a fictional tale of cruelty and trauma based on the notorious Alfred G. Dozier School for Boys in Florida. RaMell and Jomo shared some anecdotes of the challenges and the magic behind filming Nickel Boys in its entirely in first person point of view.
And I also got them reflecting about the mission behind their artistry as they go deep revealing why they work with so much passion and so much craftsmanship and why they choose the stories they select to work with.
