Filmmaker Leila Djansi has revealed that prior to the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic she could not secure funding for a movie she wrote.

According to her, the investor who was interested in her work was hesitant to finance the movie because her lead character was black.

Speaking in an interview on Citi TV, she said that the film is about a black woman in an inter-racial marriage. 

Miss Djansi noted that the investor wanted a character who is white as the lead. She said the investor made comments that suggest so during their meetings.

Leila Djansi said that she spoke to her lawyer who asked her if she was willing to compromise and make the change – switching to a white lead – to get the needed funds.

The filmmaker said “I thought about it and I spoke to a couple of other friends, but it didn’t feel right. So, I didn’t get the funding for the film because my lead actor was black. My lead is going to stay black because the story is about a black woman.”

She stated that there were times when during meetings the investors would attempt to make changes to her film, where the white husband would rather be the focus.

However, Miss Djansi said that she was not willing to let her lead character take a back seat for her white husband to be the main attention.

“I didn’t get the film financed but when it was time for me to get it financed it will get financed though. I’m not worried about that,” she noted.

Miss Djansi noted that some of these instances force filmmakers to compromise and make changes to their original ideas so they could secure some funds for their movies.