Many film productions shoot in Toronto, but more often than not, only the infrastructure is used, while Chicago taxis line our streets or New York City's metro signage takes over our TTC entrances. Rarely does the true vibe of Toronto ever come through.
Reza Dahya's Boxcutter (in theatres June 13 through Game Theory Films) challenges that notion, using the city in its present day, neither dwelling on the struggles and problems of Toronto nor ignoring them. Boxcutter simply brings together all the things — the good, the bad and the ugly — that make Toronto what it is.
A transplant from Vancouver, Dahya moved to Toronto after enrolling in Ryerson University's School of Radio and Television Arts — now known as Toronto Metropolitan University and the RTA School of Media, respectively. Dahya recalls being 18 years old and believing "clear as day" that this program, and its subsequent career offerings, were exactly where he "belonged and needed to get to."
Dahya's first job was at Big It Up, a hat kiosk in the Eaton Centre, where he met local artists like R&B singer Jully Black and Canadian hip-hop pioneer Maestro Fresh Wes, people Dahya looked up to as a teen. Compounding an already inspiring introduction to Toronto, Milestone Radio, the first Black-owned broadcasting company in Canada, was petitioning CRTC to launch the country's first radio station devoted to R&B and hip-hop — what would become Flow 93.5.
The filmmaker volunteered with Milestone, collecting signatures, and eventually hosting and producing his own show, OTA Live, when Flow went live in 2001. As fate would have it, Dahya met Chris Cromie, the screenwriter of Boxcutter, in the making of that show.
"Once the station launched, I [knew] I was staying in Toronto for sure. This is where I wanted to work," Dahya recalls during a video interview with Exclaim! the day after the film's screening at Departure Festival + Conference.
As time went on, Dahya discovered a desire to articulate his idea and opinions in a different way. "I didn't really want to just talk — I wanted to express," he says. "But I can't sing, I can't rap, I can't play music. So I figured out that filmmaking was my way to express myself."
Dahya was accepted into the Canadian Film Centre's Directors' Lab and completed a short film, CHAMELEON, as part of the program in 2015. Later, he approached Cromie with a desire to make a Toronto hip-hop movie as a way of bridging his old and new lives, in what would become Dahya's feature directorial debut, Boxcutter.
In the film, Ashton James and Zoe Lewis co-lead as two aspiring artists, Rome and Jenaya. The film begins with a burglary at Rome's apartment and the theft of his laptop, which contains the only copy of his first rap album. In an attempt to reassemble his record in time to attend a party that evening where a major producer is scheduled to appear, Rome and the photographer/artist Jenaya traverse Toronto on a quest to find his producers.
As day becomes night, Boxcutter explores the of fear of failure, the downsides of perfectionism, and the courage it takes to share art, putting the audience in their feels about the ever-nagging imposter syndrome.
After the film's screening at Departure, something beautiful happened during the Q&A. One by one, people rose to ask their questions, introducing themselves as, "sort of" or "kind of" a writer/director/filmmaker — even James admitted to taking awhile before being comfortable in actually calling himself an actor — and Dahya was quick to encourage each and every one of them to own their dream.
"That was so nice," Dahya says with a big smile
Although it'd be easy to proclaim Dahya as having "made it" with Boxcutter, the director still understands what weighed on those in the audience. When the film made its international premiere at SXSW in March, Dahya was the one on the other end of that conversation as the apprehensive internal dialogue took hold.
"That was just like, 'Oh, my God, some of these filmmakers are just... wow. They're either on another level, or they have so much buzz, or they have so much going on for themselves, they're the talk of the town — all this type of stuff," he recalls thinking. "It just beats down on you: 'I don't belong here.' 'I knew I never belonged here.' 'This was a mistake.' All of it starts to flood back in. It's a bit of a roller coaster."
Dahya shares how "it's still tough" to believe he's earned a seat at the table, describing his feelings of inadequacy as "room-dependent."
He reflects, "In a room like last night, I definitely feel great. I feel pretty fulfilled and lucky and blessed. I feel very happy, and I feel proud of myself and our team. We created something beautiful."
He continues, "I just love Boxcutter, honestly. That is what grounds me. Every time that movie is on, I can't believe it, and I just look at it, and I just smile. Even yesterday, I had the biggest smile on my face just looking at the big screen, seeing the work up there, seeing Ashton [and] Zoe up there — [it] really makes me happy and keeps me going."
A central moment of the film comes as Rome lays it all out to Jenaya at Yonge-Dundas Square. Up to that point, he hasn't shared his music with anyone other than those who made it with him — he can't even jump on a mic to help with sound check. When Jenaya calls him out for being scared, Rome finally admits his hang up:
"It's all me. It's my words, my thoughts, my ideas. So if they hate it, nobody cares..." confesses Rome, with the Eaton Centre in the background. It's a scene that hits to the vulnerability of artistry and the difficulties of detaching yourself from criticism when everything about the work is deeply personal.
The exchange and location take on an even greater, more poignant significance when Dahya shares that it was at the Eaton Centre as a university student when life clicked for him.
"Coming up the escalator, I just was like, 'Whoa, this is where I need to be,'" he recalls. Having shared this moment of clarity with friends and colleagues in Toronto, he's typically met with a lot of incredulity: "Yonge and Dundas? What are you talking about?"
Perhaps it takes someone who chose Toronto to be their home to truly bring out a less jaded view of the city, showcasing its beauty and potential on film instead.
"I was a kid just looking for community, really. I didn't really have a community in Vancouver," Dahya says, reflecting on his cross-country move. "The city offered that sense [of] community that I needed. This is where I [found] a scene, a culture, that I can be a part of and contribute to."