Exploring the mind and life of James Baldwin is an exercise in humility. His bravery and tireless wielding of intellect against racism was unmatched. In my preparation for the shoot and rehearsal with Tory, I used the source BBC interview footage to track and plot Baldwin’s facial expressions throughout. Particularly at points of potential conflict. In this case, moments of confronting bigoted or ignorant questions from Peter Duval. I suspected this might reveal patterns in Baldwin’s communication tactics.

What revealed itself far exceeded that. What revealed itself were teaching tactics. Each time Baldwin fields a personal or bigoted question from Duval, he decides to teach rather than attack. When I realized this, I was overcome by the heroism of it.

Because it was not a shouting or violent revolution, his power. It was meticulous, incising, and astoundingly patient. Fielding ignorance and converting it to knowledge for the perpetrator is about the most selfless thing I can think of, and a deeply worthwhile story to tell.