Gangsterism, Winnipeg-born filmmaker Isiah Medina’s fifth feature film, is hitting the screen this week at the Dave Barber Cinematheque.
The film follows Clem, a filmmaker and gangster who needs money for an upcoming project. He learns that someone has been leaking his films without his consent, so he gathers his crew of filmmakers to confront the leaker and claim his fair share of money.
Medina described himself as a filmmaker who is interested in exploring the relationship between philosophy and cinema, and he sees film as a way to explore ideas without relying on words.
“What I love about cinema is that it doesn’t need language necessarily. That’s why it started as silent film, right? And I also like how Plato would say, “We philosophers begin with things and not words,’” he said.
“I try to, in a way, do the work of philosophy but with cinema, but also try to reach beyond it because most philosophy is written with language, but I think cinema offers us a chance to think without it.”
This notion is apparent in Gangsterism. Despite being a gangster film, the dialogue frequently references Marxism, white supremacy and postcolonial theory, and there are numerous shots of book covers and literary works.
Medina also highlighted that gangster movies have a “funny” relationship to reality — people usually conceive reality and cinema as two separate domains, but in gangster movies, the lines are much more blurred.
“Gangster movies are one of the few movie genres where money is part of […] the story itself, you know? So I thought it allows me to be reflexive in this way because it’s part of the genre to talk about money all the time […] A lot of the characters [in Gangsterism] are filmmakers, and they have to deal with relatively the same issues,” Medina explained.
Gangsterism could not be more self-referential. Reminiscent of Clem’s story, Medina recounted that he initially could not shoot the film right away due to “budgetary reasons.” In one scene, Clem pitches his project idea to a board of critics, only to be told no one would understand it and that a film about racism should be easy to understand. This is based on criticism Medina has received in real life. Moreover, the film’s poster has a quote in all caps saying “depiction = endorsement.”
“I think almost all art […] becomes self-portraiture, whether the artist knows it or not. So I rather just consciously do it than not. And it doesn’t mean that I’m just one of the characters. I feel like I put myself a bit in every single character, no matter who it is,” Medina said.
“You see this everywhere […] It’s why so many filmmakers make gangster movies. They’re so clearly allegories of their own creation, whether it’s Scarface or Goodfellas or all the classics, there’s always this minimal relationship to filmmaking.”
Gangsterism will be screened at the Dave Barber Cinematheque from Jan. 30 to Feb. 5 with a talk by Isiah Medina on Jan. 30. Visit davebarbercinematheque.com for tickets and more details.
