Queen Latifah touched down at the Red Sea International Film Festival on Thursday, where the multihyphenate discussed why she feels the creative industries should embrace new technology, such as AI.
Speaking at the festival’s first In Conversation event this year, the rapper-actress-producer urged the industry “not to be afraid of the technology that is coming.”
“The technology is coming and it’s not going anywhere,” she said. “We need to figure out how to make it better because, as a person who comes from film…I can tell the difference. What I would like to see is us utilize the technology to tell interesting stories and utilize it to make it better. Nothing will replace a human. Nothing will replace our experience and our wisdom. I would say live life to the fullest so that you can add what the technology is going to be able to help us do even quicker and make it more interesting.”
The Girls Trip and Beauty Shop actress also recalled how impactful it was when she was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance in 2002’s Chicago.
“This is something that changes your career,” she said. “How it changes your career is astounding. You become known to people in places that you never would have thought of. You’re on the radar so it’s at that point that you decide, ‘OK, what am I going to do with this?’”
She continued: “I did not win but it definitely put me in all the rooms that I needed to be in, which was fine because I wanted to produce,” she said. “I was able to produce films and after that we were able to swing our company’s energy to film, and it became production. So, we came up with Beauty Shop and Bringing Down the House and more and more and so that helped us to expand as a company.”
Latifah went on to discuss the growth of her company Flavor Unit Entertainment and how the company specifically earmarks directors “who can tell their diverse stories.”
“One of the things that is interesting about our collective is that our directors are anywhere from the 20s to the 50s – there’s no ageism out there.”
Latifah was asked by a British filmmaker in the audience, who identified herself as an executive producer on the Netflix series Supacell, what Black British filmmakers can learn from their American counterparts. Latifah responded: “Being an African American woman, we have a long history that is being challenged right now. It’s hurting us as a nation by not facing reality and how we came to be. Nevertheless, we are resilient, amazing people to still be standing. So, I would say just keep pushing and tell your stories the way you see them.”
“Stand strong in your spot. You have to, because you’re going to get pushed. So, you have to push back. How you push and how you are creative enough to do that is up to you.”