Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/681807
41 Q2 2016 / CINEMONTAGE CM: How does the 2016 version of Roots differ from the original? MW: First, the obvious production stuff is the change in style — move it along faster, stay ahead of the audience, direct it quickly, have a lot of action, and keep the cameras moving — which is very popular now and wasn't done so much in the '70s. Also, using the music and actors that a new generation knows. The other thing that's very interesting is that the original Roots [the book and the miniseries] was so successful that it actually prompted enormous amounts of study in the field of the business of slavery: What was going on in Africa? What was going on in the village of Juffure? After the success of Roots, they excavated in the town of Juffure. When Alex Haley was writing the book, the historical work hadn't been done. So there were a lot of historical facts that he didn't know or that he got wrong — not because he made a mistake, but because the material just wasn't available. We have integrated all that new historical information into this film. CM: Like what? MW: For example, the original Roots showed a little village of about 150 people living in grass shacks, a very small community that probably wasn't exposed to Westerners or Europeans, so they were surprised when they saw the white community for the first time. As a result of all the archeological work that was done, we now know there was a city of over 10,000 people with a university. It had a church and a mosque, and they were studying Islam. It is highly likely that Kunta Kinte spoke four languages — Mandinka, his native tongue; Portuguese; English; and Arabic — because he was studying the Quran. As royalty, Kunta Kinte would have been a Muslim, so he was learning Arabic. These are things we show in the new Roots that were not in the original one. CM: How do you work with the editors in the editing room? CONTINUED ON PAGE 54 "I think the producer's function is to protect the director and the editor from too many notes." – Mark Wolper Opposite: Mark Wolper, right, with actor Malachi Kirby on the set of Roots; above: Mark Wolper on the set of Roots. HISTORY