Now with the director’s cut of Dark Ballet, let’s take a look at a very interesting interview with the director Emmanuel Adjei from 2019. An excerpt (interview to full article down below)
‘As with Shahmaran, the lead in Dark Ballet is an African-American male, battling forces of repression. Does Adjei, as a black director, identify with the symbol of Mykki as Joan, cruelly punished for standing up to Power? “Not on a personal level, but I do understand the idea of being judged, as a person of colour. I think that’s something I have dealt with and I’m still dealing with. I guess that’s one of the reasons why I felt entitled to tell this story.”
Dark Ballet was rigorously scripted and storyboarded, to tell Joan’s harrowing story, and integrate the required VFX work. But when shooting started, he discovered how he needed to be flexible in order to accommodate the creative needs of a superstar, and her hugely demanding schedule. He says that the final version of Dark Ballet is therefore less ambiguous and metaphysical than he planned to make. “Madonna’s version is ‘this is Joan, this is what she fought for, this is what people need to know’,” he says. “That was very interesting to experience: someone who is very direct in their message.”