Director Reza Dahya used to work at Flow 93.5 FM, Canada’s first Black-owned radio station.Reza Dahya/Supplied
When he was a host and producer at Toronto’s now-defunct Flow 93.5 FM radio station in the mid-aughts, Reza Dahya spent most of his waking hours exposing the city to the most exciting hip-hop artists of the moment. It wasn’t just a pleasure, it was a responsibility he took seriously.
So when the moment arrives late in Dahya’s feature directorial debut, Boxcutter, in which his hero, an aspiring Toronto rapper named Rome (played by Ashton James), gets the opportunity to finally share his music with his trusted friend Jenaya (Zoe Lewis), the film refuses to let the audience actually hear the beats. Instead, we can only imagine how talented Rome is or isn’t as we watch the two characters silently bop their heads to the tune, the music loudly pumping through their earbuds but completely silent to everyone else.
It is a gutsy scene that crystallizes what Dahya was going for when he initially conceived Boxcutter – a hip-hop movie that defies convention. A ticking-clock thriller that traces Rome as he runs around the city trying to find his stolen laptop in order to pass along his tracks to a visiting rap star (Drake and Rihanna producer Boi-1da), the film doubles as a quiet – literally and metaphorically – portrait of what happens when artists fight against the economics of urban gentrification.
“A movie like this, with two Black leads, people have preconceived notions of what it should be, and I wanted to challenge that,” Dahya said. “We don’t need to show Rome performing, because the movie is not about that. It’s about Rome’s inner struggle – and what he needs to do to take the next step in his creative life. He’s more than just a rapper.”
Boxcutter has spent the past few months making the film-festival rounds.Supplied
Throughout the years-long development of Boxcutter, Dahya found himself repeatedly clashing with potential financiers about what his film should and shouldn’t be. People wanted Rome and Jenaya to have sex. They wanted thudding hip-hop beats and rap battles. They wanted violence. But all Dahya wanted was to tell a story about musicians struggling to thrive in a city that seems intent on pushing them out.
Toronto’s hip-hop scene may be getting increasingly recognized on the world stage, but it’s getting harder to make a living inside the GTA, with redevelopment pricing the creative community further and further outside the core. It’s a reality Dahya spent years witnessing first-hand during his time at Flow, Canada’s first Black-owned radio station. (Today it’s been rebranded as New Country 93.5.)
“Seeing all the cranes in the sky, it’s hard to not notice these things, right? Just look at Regent Park. I’ve seen that place literally cut in half,” said Dahya, who grew up in Vancouver but moved to Toronto to attend what’s today known as Toronto Metropolitan University. “And everywhere you go, you hear stories about people having to relocate. I wanted to tie that in emotionally to Rome’s journey, but without hammering it home.”
Boxcutter is a hip hop movie that defies convention, writes Barry Hertz.Supplied
Together with screenwriter Chris Cromie – a one-time intern at Flow – Dahya has crafted a feature that pushes the limits of what a low-budget Toronto movie can look like. From the Jamaican patty shops of Eglinton West to the industrial club spaces of Cherry Beach, the production features an astounding number of locations and set-ups for its price point.
The production team, led by Soko Negas, secured $250,000, the bulk of the film’s production budget, from Telefilm’s Talent to Watch program. Additional resources from the Canada Council for the Arts and another grant from Europe’s New Dawn production fund supporting emerging filmmakers helped the team get over the hump.
“Everyone advised us that you can’t really do this – it’s too many locations, it’s too much moving around,” recalled Dahya of the 21-day shoot. “But we just jumped into it. Once you start the journey, you just have to keep going. Everyone was down to hustle – figuring out places where we’re going to grab shots, where we’re going to feed the crew, even where we’re going to go to the bathroom.”
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The many challenges of making Boxcutter – which has spent the past few months making the film-festival rounds, including Austin’s SXSW Festival – haven’t sent Dahya scurrying back to the more familiar terrain of radio, though. Just like his hero Rome, he’s in it for the long game. Whether you hear him this time or the next.
“Making films is incredibly difficult, but I love the endurance test,” he said. “I’m not going to lie – I don’t have the next project ready to go yet. But I’m on the hunt.”
Boxcutter opens in select theatres June 13.