Black Filmmaker JONATHAN WYCHE on Planet Ibsen

In Planet Ibsen, Jonathan Wyche challenges mainstream expectations of black directors. Wyche, a black filmmaker, set out to avoid making a "Blacksploitation” or "Gendersploitation" film and in the process created a FANTASY FILM set in the VICTORIAN ERA. Wyche states, “I recall reading somewhere that the majority of women who have received acclaim for their acting roles was when they were playing either a hooker or prostitute. I have no interest in portraying a cliché, convention or the expected. In this day in age I give the audience a lot more credit.” Wyche maintains that the story drove him in the right direction. The filmmaker says, “I was simply passionate about a little hidden gem between two famous playwrights in history that not everybody knows about. From that I just told the story in the most interesting way I know. Something I would go see.” Planet Ibsen is about a tormented playwright, August Strindberg, who is forced to revisit his past while being trapped inside his archrival’s most famous play. Planet Ibsen is an EXTREME ADAPTATION of A Doll’s House play, written in 1879 by Henrik Ibsen. The film explores the similarities and differences between the characters in Ibsen’s play and Strindberg’s life.