Two young men (19-year-old Edan and 18-year-old Dula) refuse to hide their love for each other in writer-director Baz Sells’ powerful stop-motion short Two Black Boys in Paradise. The project, which was recently nominated for a prestigious British Independent Film Award (in the best short category) and has been qualified for Oscar consideration as well, is based on an award-winning poem by Dean Atta. We recently caught up with Sells and the short’s producer Ben Jackson to find out more about their well-received poetic work.
Congrats on all the recent accolades. It must be quite rewarding to get all the attention after several years of hard work. Can you tell us a bit about the origins of Two Black Boys in Paradise?
Ben Jackson: I didn’t come out to my family until I was 30, and even after that, I struggled with internalized homophobia and self-acceptance. A couple of years later, I’d reached a point where I felt ready to explore queer themes creatively.
Around the same time, I read Dean Atta’s coming-of-age verse novel The Black Flamingo, which became one of my all-time favorite books. My boyfriend and I went to one of Dean’s poetry events, and one of the poems he read was Two Black Boys in Paradise. I went home and couldn’t stop thinking about it. I could immediately see the potential for a film that was both emotionally resonant and visually striking.
I shared the poem with director and co-founder of One6th, Baz Sells, who was equally enthusiastic. We reached out to Dean to see if he’d be interested in collaborating, and he loved the idea. He came on board as co-screenwriter and executive producer, and the three of us, along with our concept artist and art director Sanna Räsänen, spent about a year developing the project before submitting, successfully, to the BFI Short Form Animation Fund.
What was the reason you were drawn to Atta’s original poem?
Ben Jackson: I loved the idea of collaborating with someone whose work I already deeply admired. Getting a short film off the ground is always a huge undertaking, so you have to be completely behind the idea and willing to fight for it through all the challenges.
Dean’s poem touched on so many themes; identity, love, freedom, and joy, in a way that was both unapologetic and beautifully written. Given the journey of self-acceptance I was on at the time, the line “They are in love with each other, and they are in love with themselves” really spoke to me. I also loved that, while the poem acknowledges conflict, it isn’t defined by it. Most of it feels like a celebration.
We wanted to tell a story where the central energy wasn’t struggle, but joy; a celebration of love, self-acceptance, and beauty. The second half of the film builds from one emotional climax to another, both metaphorically and figuratively, and even after seeing it hundreds of times, that sequence can still bring me to tears.
How did you decide to tell this story in stop-motion, as it is probably one of the most challenging and labor intensive ways to do it?
Baz Sells: When I first looked at the project, I had a strong sense that stop-motion would complement Dean’s poem. It’s a deeply honest piece of writing, which deals with difficult themes but in a hopeful way. Stop-motion also possesses an honesty —it’s handmade and often imperfect, but it also has a disarming quality that allows us to navigate difficult subject matters with charm and nuance. From a creative point of view, animation also has a fluidity to it that allows us to shift tone in a way that complements the range of emotions and expressions addressed by Dean in his poem.
As you say, it was incredibly labor-intensive and a big step up for us practically and technically. As a studio I like to think we possess the fighting and romantic spirit you need to make indie stop-motion films — if there’s a way, we’ll find it. And we did that, thanks to the cast, crew and supporters by our side.
What were the toughest aspects of the project? Did you feel added responsibility as a white man?
Baz: Timescale and workload were big challenges. The project ran over five years in total and so taking an indie approach to this was incredibly difficult to sustain. Technically the toughest scene for our animators was probably the underwater sequence which came to life at a pace of less than 12 frames per day.
Another significant challenge for us was tackling this particular story. Whilst Ben is queer and this was part of his own journey in expressing parts of his coming out, there is naturally a question mark over us as white filmmakers leading a project centred around Black experiences. We openly reflected on this from the very start of the project and took that responsibility incredibly seriously. We worked closely with Dean Atta as co-writer and executive producer as well as our Black and queer creatives on the crew to ensure that the project was a truly collaborative and representative experience. I’d like to think that that care and collaboration comes through on screen.
These days, it’s not easy to get a stop-motion project funded that deals with such an important and rarely represented subject. Add to that the nudity quotient… Did you think twice about the sex scene?
Baz: Before production, we were advised by a few colleagues about how challenging it would be to maintain naked puppets and they were right! It took a lot of upkeep which often fell to the hands of our animators who not only were doing a great job with the animation itself but also carefully patching up puppets in between frames.
I don’t think we ever had any serious concerns about embracing the subject matter or nudity on screen but thematically and tonally I realized it would be an intricate film to navigate. With regards to the sex scene, we knew it had to occupy a space which felt authentic and intimate without veering into the ridiculous. Puppets aren’t associated with being particularly sexy but the mood and scope of physical intimacy is vast and so we leant into the aspects of sex which we felt we could convey authentically — playfulness, tenderness and the sensuality of communication.
Who are your biggest animation influences?
Baz: Tim Burton and puppet makers Mackinnon & Saunders have had the biggest influence on me in terms of first trying out the medium of stop motion. I originally worked in live action but was inspired to try stop-motion after seeing a behind-the-scenes clip from The Corpse Bride.
It showed me a benchmark of creative and technical excellence that resonated with me. The way stop-motion combines art and engineering fascinated me back then and even more so today, as well as appealing to the kinds of stories I wanted to tell.
As it turns out, we were lucky to be able to draw on the expertise of the Mackinnon and Saunders team with our TBBIP puppets, which was awesome and surreal in equal measure. Later we had the chance to show the film to Ian Mackinnon and Pete Saunders and spent two hours discussing it and its themes. Given that they were such a big part of my decision to try stop-motion, that was a moment I really cherished.
Why do you think it’s so important for artists to tell these timely, socially significant stories in animation during these difficult times?
Baz: Whilst we are always seeking out increasingly efficient ways of living and working, I think we need to protect human-made animation, now more than ever.
For me, the value of animation isn’t just about the themes we’re able to explore or even the finished film, but it’s also tied to the lessons we learn during the process. Co-operation, critical thinking, community, individual and shared resilience and self-expression. Animation promotes these things in abundance and the process reflects our shared human experience. For me animation is naturally an art form that works well for telling human stories. I’d like to think we’ll keep hold of that tradition, and continue valuing art that respects the natural pace that humans can physically move and learn.
What is the biggest lesson you learned in the process?
Ben: The film took five years to make from development to delivery, and during that time I learned so much, both as a filmmaker and as a person. This project was a huge step up from anything we’d done before, so it was a steep learning curve in every respect: creatively, technically, and emotionally. But the biggest and most important lessons came from the conversations we had behind the scenes about the film’s themes. We were constantly exploring identity, love, and acceptance — not just in the story, but in ourselves. The whole film became an expression of that, and releasing it into the world feels like a continuation of the process.
What do you hope audiences will take away from your short?
Ben: The film is a celebration of queer love and of Black love but I think its themes of self-acceptance and self-worth are universal. We hope that audiences who watch it feel seen and that it might help give people the courage to love who they want to love and to love themselves without reservation. We would love for everyone who watches the film to take Edan and Dula into their hearts and recognize that love is love no matter who it’s between, and to carry that with them —celebrating love whenever they see it, in any of its forms. Ultimately, we hope that audiences will embrace the conversations that the poem and film invoke and come away with a sense of joy and hope.
For more info, visit one6th.com.
