I'd say a little prayer: SA-born director on making Aretha Franklin biopic

Liesl Tommy's Broadway dreams were born on the Cape Flats. As a young girl, Tommy took ballet lessons at a community centre in Factreton, Cape Town, where she grew up. She taught what she knew to her cousins, choreographing their dance routines, which they would later perform for the family. An uncle would whip out a guitar and a family lunch would turn into a spectacle of song and dance. When her family moved to the US, she turned her dreams into reality.

Now Tommy is directing her first studio film, Aretha Franklin's biopic, Respect. Speaking from her New York apartment, Tommy said capturing the indomitable spirit of the Queen of Soul was a constant source of anxiety in the beginning.

"I had endless concerns," she said. "It's completely crazy that my very first movie is a studio film about Aretha Franklin (played by Jennifer Hudson), an international icon."

Relentless research and speaking to Franklin's friends and family helped Tommy get to grips with the complexity of the singer's career. Immersing herself in Franklin's world, Tommy not only started to relate to the icon but it also set her free to create a film she's proud of.

"When I was in doubt I'd sit down and say a little prayer to calm myself down. I'd ask myself, with everything that I understand about Miss Aretha Franklin, I wonder what she'd see or think in this moment. When I'd put myself in that quiet space, usually answers would come."

It was during this process that she discovered just how rich Franklin's life was and she developed an appreciation for how the singer gracefully manoeuvred her personal and professional life. Just like the singer and civil rights activist, Tommy had previously also reached a point in her life when she was uncertain about her career.

Tommy left SA with her parents when she was 15 years old, at the height of apartheid. As a teenager from the Cape Flats living in the US, she not only struggled with her identity but also had issues dealing with the trauma she experienced in SA.

"When I first moved to New York I was an immigrant. I had no financial safety net, the rest of my family lived in South Africa. I was absolutely terrified all the time that I'd find myself living in Central Park. That was my weirdest nightmare. It was a very scary part of my early life, the financial struggle while I was trying to carve out a path for myself," Tommy said.

Her parents taught her that because she didn't look like others in her field she needed to make sure she worked harder. She had to be better. She studied acting in London and went on to complete a programme through the Trinity Repertory Company in the US.

Tommy later switched from acting to directing because she wanted more control over the content she was working on. Having made a name for herself as a theatre director in New York, she was the first black woman to get a Tony Award nomination for best direction of a play.

"A British director told me that the best training for film and television is theatre. I really internalised that and decided to focus on theatre for as long as possible to hone my craft. I think I managed to do that. I knew that at some point I'd want to get into film and television. I got to the point where a lot of my theatre bucket list goals had been met, which is crazy to think," she said.

It was US filmmaker Ava DuVernay who gave Tommy her first break in television, on the series Queen Sugar. Her other TV jobs also came from female filmmakers. Tommy has directed episodes of Insecure, The Walking Dead as well as Queen Sugar. She's worked in the US, Canada and across East Africa and considers all of her previous experiences "profound".

But despite being unashamedly South African, Tommy has never worked on anything that's directly about her beloved home country.

"I've been waiting for the perfect film and I felt that I'd know it when it came up. I had this feeling that this is what all of this work, all of the training and all of the struggle has been leading me towards."

And this pièce de résistance is the film adaptation of Trevor Noah's autobiography, Born a Crime. In 2018 it was announced that Tommy would direct the film, starring Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong'o.

But before that project gets under way, Tommy has Respect to promote. Her team finished filming in February but, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the biopic will only be released in cinemas in January 2021.

Editing the film from her New York apartment with the cacophony of police sirens in the background, Tommy's love for music and storytelling helped her stay focused.

"Music is a huge part of who I am and how I was raised. It always symbolised freedom. Whenever people were singing at home, no matter what was happening politically outside, there was a sense of joy. I think that was another way for me to hold onto a feeling of happiness."