Diane Robinson – an unlikely journey to film-making

Jamaica-born filmmaker Diane Robinson will première her first film, The Young Vote, at this year’s American Black Film Festival (ABFF), which is celebrating its 26th anniversary in Miami Beach from June 15 -19, followed by virtual events on ABFF Play from June 20 -30.

The Young Vote is a feature-length documentary that follows a diverse group of students and activists during the 2020 election in the United States. The Young Vote puts you on the street with young leaders while they knock on doors, engage in the largest get -out-the-vote effort in US history, challenge the status quo, and try to create momentum for change outside of traditional political channels. Viewers get an insight into their victories, frustrations, and poignant and complicated political analysis.

Robinson believes the film will reveal why young people are not voting in higher numbers — and why we should all be working urgently to change that. “I hope this documentary will inspire viewers to get involved in promoting ideas to dramatically increase the extent to which Americans vote and are civically involved.” She made the film to shine a light on the critical need to ensure that all voters truly have a voice in democracy at a critical moment when voter rights are being suppressed. “Now, more than ever, we have to fight to broaden voting and participation, particularly for young people – and alarmingly, we see organised efforts to do the exact opposite.”

BECOMING A FILMMAKER

For Robinson, the road to becoming a film-maker was not a direct one. Born and raised in Jamaica, Robinson knew from a young age that having access to a high-quality education was critical to succeeding in life. A student at Suthermere Prep in Kingston before moving to the US with her mother at the age of seven, Robinson attended public schools in Brooklyn, New York, before graduating at the age of 16 from Midwood High School and attending Vassar College. After Vassar, she joined Teach For America to work to ensure that other students had the educational opportunities that she did. What she thought would be a two-year commitment to Teach For America turned into over two decades working to help build the movement for educational equity. She served as executive director of Teach For America Los Angeles, then led their national efforts, and ultimately served as a senior leader to grow the international version of the work, Teach For All.

Robinson wanted to understand what it would take to bring about deeper system change in education. This led her to pursue her doctoral degree in education leadership at Harvard University. There, she had the opportunity to reflect on her decades of work in education and what more she could do to advance change for young people and in the communities she had served for decades. She found herself reflecting on the idea of culture – and how values and beliefs shape individuals and systems and can spur societal change. She was particularly intrigued after discovering research by the World Bank on how film and television can influence behaviour. Robinson shares, “I found myself wondering: what would it take to change values and beliefs more broadly? Could film play a role in that?”

Robinson said the strong values she learned as a child have stayed on. “My early life in Jamaica cemented values that drive me to this day,” Robinson said.

CAREER CHANGE

It was this upbringing and her time at Harvard that inspired Robinson to make a career change. Her first film, The Young Vote, is truly a passion project and one that required her to overcome unthinkable challenges. She started shooting the film when the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2020 and other productions had shut down. “It’s funny how many people tried to dissuade me from going forward given it was my first film, COVID-19 restrictions were nearly impossible, and the state of film was in real peril … but I stayed true to my Jamaican values to persevere and reach my goals.” The film ended up taking her over two years to complete and is now making its première at a recognised festival that curates the work of creatives from the African Diaspora.

”It is an incredible honour to have my first film considered in the Best Documentary competition this year at ABFF. I am excited to see other films and meet the film-makers and industry executives attending the festival this year,” she shared. Robinson hopes to find a distributor for the film who shares her vision and values – and will help her to get as many young people as possible to see the film. She is also eager to get started on her second film, a project she is now developing that will pay homage to her roots in Jamaica.

To learn more about Robinson’s work, visit Yard Girl Productions at https://www.yardgirlproductions.com.