Maya Cozier's debut work, She Paradise, is now in theaters through Samuel Goldwyn Films. Cozier was raised by the artist's parents-Irenée Shaw and Christopher Cozier-in the Caribbean twin islands of Trinidad and Tobago. She has gained many years of experience as a dancer/choreographer for music videos and TV shows (alone and as a member of the hip hop champion team representing the island in the World Hip Hop Dance Championship). At the age of 18, when Nicki Minaj and Hype Williams flew to Trinidad to direct the "Pound the Alarm" music video, Maya started her first international performance. As a background model, she is fascinated by the filmmaking process. After receiving a national academic scholarship, she studied at the New York City School of Visual Arts for a degree in film. Her first short film is about her childhood playmate Shan, a dancer who takes a circus touring the United States. Her thesis film "Short Drop" tells the story of a recently widowed retiree whose car was mistaken for an illegal taxi, bringing together unlikely people in Port of Spain. She won the NYWIFT Student Award , And screened in more than 20 film festivals around the world, won the Best Caribbean Short Film Curaçao Film Festival and Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival Best Short Film.

Crowdfunding Director Film Prose Maya Cozier Beauty Pageant She Paradise

In an all-white futuristic room, when an esthetician was talking about the "science" of cosmetology, I sat upright with a smirk on my face. Her first hint, I may never erase from my memory, that your head tilts down slightly, looks petite and fragile, exudes fertility, and gives a man a message that you are dignified , Helpless, need protection.

The doctor, who I did not name, lowered her head slightly, just like Ariana Grande looks natural in every photo. She whispered in a gentle voice: "Come and help me." When When she showed the slides of women with freckles and teeth gaps that she considered unbeautiful in science, I began to wonder if I had walked into some ironic parallel universe, or was this real life?

This is real. I am a contestant in the 2018 beauty pageant. This is a white woman who has become an expert in beauty standards on an island dominated by blacks and Indians.

Without thinking about it, I agreed to participate in the beauty pageant shortly after returning home from the New York Film Academy in Trinidad. Is it curious? After staying abroad for so long, do I want to reconfirm my existence in Trinidad? Is it vanity? Am I bored and want to do something? I'm not sure yet.

I didn't know anything about beauty contests, so I got up and participated in an interview, where I became a finalist. Before agreeing to participate, I had a long debate with myself. I thought, "Is this going against everything I believe in as a woman? In 2018, is it acceptable to let women compete for appearance or intelligence? Isn't people even caring about beauty pageants anymore? Isn't beauty pageants outdated?"

When I asked myself these questions, people around me gently reminded me: "You have a movie you want to make, right?" Many women take beauty pageants as a stepping stone to achieve their goals. Although there are definitely problems with beauty pageants, I am also tired of it. Criticize women who use these problematic structures for their own benefit. It is also wrong to weaken the subjectivity of women by assuming that women are the victims of these structures rather than being able to use them for their own benefit. I really want to make a movie. Ironically, this is a weird and interesting way that I think can be done.

When I awkwardly held a curling iron on my hair in a hairdressing class, the contestants laughed that they fell. I broke my eyebrow pencil repeatedly in my makeup class. I didn't realize that my face was covered with crumbs while eating, and in an interview when I confessed how embarrassed I was when I participated in a beauty pageant, I got into trouble. Unsurprisingly, when the pageant came to an end, I did not win.

But the next day, with many countries paying attention to me, I launched an Indiegogo campaign to fund my movie. Beauty pageants are a hot topic across the country, but I strike while the iron is hot. There is never a need to compromise, it is a privilege to enter a space you don’t really want or participate in an activity that you simply don’t fit. I remember when the rumors about the manipulation of the beauty pageant were confirmed, I just wanted to withdraw. I remember walking around backstage, with one heel and one eyelash hanging on my face, reminding myself over and over again that I have a movie to fund. I remember my film school professor was shocked and confused when he heard about the beauty pageant. That Maya from an art school who wears black lipstick, dirty white sneakers and T-shirts, and wears a nasal septum every day participates in the beauty pageant?

Yes, it is interesting. However, despite being clumsy along the way, I eventually won the fan base and later united around my work. To this day, people prevented me from telling me how frustrated I was being deceived, and a judge admitted to giving me the highest scores in each category, just to get the pageant director to recalculate them. I don't blame the director. They saw through my fake smile, so they were wise. I'm so cynical, the thought of parading with a crown for a year is fun for me. Even though I am a fish out of the water, I know it opened the door for me and motivated me on something that really matters: directing my first movie.

The Indiegogo event was an immediate success. Soon after, I received a call from the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and Art, saying that the small budget grant I applied for for the first film was successful. I remember bursting into tears during the call. I finally did it. "Well..." I thought, "It's time to make good use of this energy."

The budget is challenging, but I have something to make a movie. I am determined to complete it at all costs. We photographed her in heaven, hoping for miracles and endless good luck. This is the only way for the backbone team and unauthorized guerrilla production to reach the end. People are popping up as extras in movies. Thanks to my badass producers Jolyn Mendes and Mary Elena Joseph, we are able to attract people’s attention almost every day, from free contact lenses to a face Tieqing's actress wardrobe stylist lost them. When we only asked for 2 cars, we only needed 12 decorated cars, free KFC every day, and free entry to a popular nightclub. We are done.

I have always admired the nature of the black female chameleon. As a black female director, I know that I will never be easily defined or put into a box. My work and art need to be open to new experiences. I think my life experience will affect my work, and I doubt that I will never lose the urge to invest in a new world or experience.

The best advice I’ve heard about filmmaking comes from Werner Herzog: “Roll up your sleeves and work as a bodyguard in a sex club, as a warden in a lunatic asylum, or as a machine operator in a slaughterhouse. If you drive a taxi for 6 months, you just There is enough money to make a movie. Walk, learn languages ​​and crafts or industries that have nothing to do with movies. Filmmaking—just like great literary works—must be based on life experience."

Maya Cozier's debut work, She Paradise, is now in theaters through Samuel Goldwyn Films. Cozier was raised by the artist's parents-Irenée Shaw and Christopher Cozier-in the Caribbean twin islands of Trinidad and Tobago. She has gained many years of experience as a dancer/choreographer for music videos and TV shows (alone and as a member of the hip hop champion team representing the island in the World Hip Hop Dance Championship). At the age of 18, when Nicki Minaj and Hype Williams flew to Trinidad to direct the "Pound the Alarm" music video, Maya started her first international performance. As a background model, she is fascinated by the filmmaking process. After receiving a national academic scholarship, she studied at the New York City School of Visual Arts for a degree in film. Her first short film is about her childhood playmate Shan, a dancer who takes a circus touring the United States. Her thesis film "Short Drop" tells the story of a recently widowed retiree whose car was mistaken for an illegal taxi, bringing together unlikely people in Port of Spain. She won the NYWIFT Student Award , And screened in more than 20 film festivals around the world, won the Best Caribbean Short Film Curaçao Film Festival and Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival Best Short Film.