Patrick Sabongui has turned down multiple acting roles because the characters were little more than racist caricatures of Middle Eastern men: snarling, AK-47-wielding, no-nuance terrorists.
鈥淚 face the same issues today that I faced 23 years ago when I started in this industry,鈥� says the Vancouver-based, Egyptian-Canadian actor and producer. 鈥淭here are times I鈥檓 looking down the barrel of the exact same stereotypical role that I got 20 years ago.鈥�
Turning down work is not something that 鈥� whose credits include Homeland, The Flash, and a Leo Award-nominated turn in the 2017 feature film Drone, in which he played a Pakistani father whose family is killed in a hellfire missile attack 鈥� does lightly. 听
鈥淭his is my career, and it often comes down to pay the bills or sleep at night,鈥� says Sabongui. 鈥淭he choice becomes, 鈥楢ccept this role that鈥檚 going to make a huge financial difference, or pass on it and make nothing, or take a smaller role and have enough for next month鈥檚 rent.鈥� I鈥檓 still caught in that loop.鈥�
Sabongui鈥檚 experiences navigating the industry as an actor of colour were the inspiration for , about an actor of Middle Eastern descent (played by Lee Majdoub) who turns down the opportunity to play a terrorist in a blockbuster film.
But Sabongui鈥檚 story is not unique in Vancouver, a city that is statistically culturally diverse but whose culturally diverse actors face stereotypical roles and fewer opportunities than their Caucasian colleagues.
It鈥檚 not even unique to Vancouver. Diversity (or the lack thereof) in Hollywood has been a topic of industry dissection and social media meme-making for years. For every resounding success (Black Panther, Moonlight, Get Out, Kim's Convenience) there are missteps and instances of out-right racism that demonstrate that there鈥檚 still plenty of work to be done 鈥� the stats that led to #OscarsSoWhite; Star Wars: The Last Jedi star Kelly Marie Tran leaving social media due to racist and sexist attacks; Scarlett Johansson taking yet another role that wasn鈥檛 originally intended for a cishet white woman.
Locally at least, movement is afoot to level the playing field for minority actors.听
In June, two Vancouver-based industry organizations held events designed to explore what it means to be a person of colour (POC) in showbiz. The actors鈥� union, UBCP/ACTRA, hosted two roundtables, one specific to Middle Eastern and North African actors, and another for East Asian actors. The 麻豆传媒映画Asian Film Festival held a full-day of Diversity in Filmmaking panels that kicked off the 2018 edition of the Mighty Asian Moviemaking Marathon (MAMM).
鈥淭he conversation is so complex, but the more people we include, we hear a broader voice, and it becomes a collective issue instead of a personal issue,鈥� says Mayumi Yoshida, an actress (The Man in the High Castle) and award-winning filmmaker (Akashi) who, along with Nach Dudsdeemaytha, is creative producer of MAMM and spearheaded the Diversity in Filmmaking panels.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not something that this one community has to solve,鈥� adds Yoshida. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all of us.鈥�
Opportunities for local POC actors are often limited because of an expectation held by American productions that the city isn鈥檛 diverse enough to warrant casting those roles up here, says Sabongui.
鈥淚t鈥檚 widely spoken about and it鈥檚 overt,鈥� says Sabongui, who produces the UBCP/ACTRA roundtables and sat on one of the MAMM panels. 鈥淭hey come with the expectation that the majority of diverse roles they want to cast, they鈥檙e going to have to bring up actors from the States. That cuts into everybody鈥檚 bottom lines.鈥�
For Sabongui, the journey to fully actualized diversity within the film industry begins with developing young actors of colour. 鈥淵ou are never going to get the volume of visible minorities to be the best person for the job if you don鈥檛 encourage their development from a grassroots level,鈥� says Sabongui, who practices what he preaches through Fulfilling Young Artists, the mentorship program he runs with actor Sage Brocklebank. 听
Audiences can be part of the sea change, too, by seeking out and actively supporting diverse content. 鈥淲hen you see good films that are diverse, really talk about it,鈥� says Yoshida. 鈥淏e vocal. Let people know how good they are. That itself could lead to another film.鈥�
For her part, Yoshida is determined to motivate artists of colour to value and share their own stories, like she did with Akashi (about a woman who returns to Japan for her grandmother鈥檚 funeral) and like Chinese-Canadian artist Domee Shee notably did with her recent Pixar short, Bao, about a Chinese woman who mothers a dumpling.
鈥淚 never thought my perspective or experience was unique, or special, but I鈥檓 realizing how the more personal the story is, the more compelling it is to others,鈥� says Yoshida. 鈥淩ight now, we鈥檙e living in a great time where these stories are finally being valued and people are interested.鈥�
One venue through which culturally diverse filmmakers can tell their stories is MAMM, the high-energy filmmaking competition that鈥檚 in its 13th year.
MAMM is accepting ideas for one-minute and 10-minute films until July 13; one key creative member of the team (producer, director, writer, cinematographer) must be from a visible minority or of Asian heritage. Details at
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