ABFF 2020 Exclusive: Director Yaw Agyapong, Producer Devin Ricardson Talk About Their Psychological Thriller ‘The Birth Of Deceit’

Currently playing at the 2020 American Black Film Festival (ABFF) is the psychological thriller ‘The Birth of Deceit,’ written and directed by Yaw Agyapong.

Produced by Devin Richardson and Dennis Scarfeo, the cast includes Nessa Noel, Terrence Keene, Jennifer Silverstein, Richardson,  and Scarfeo.

A girl returns to her hometown only to find out that the fate of her parents wasn’t what she originally thought it was. Along the way she befriends a woman who knows more than she’s willing to let on. Ambar and her friend will have to fight for their lives to uncover the truth.

BlackFilmandTV.com spoke with Agyapong and Richardson about the making of this thriller.

What inspired the story?

Yaw Agyapong: The story was inspired based off social issues and my upbringing, the way I grew up, I grew up predominantly in a Caucasian neighborhood. I usually was the elephant in the room, and didn't really fit in. I went through a lot of racial issues growing up, and just other people's stories as well, pulled from different stories in the world and put it together and black problems in America. That's how the story came about and then I also wanted to entertain so we put a little twist in there in terms of my film knowledge and films that I've seen.

How would you best describe the genre?

Kevin Richardson: A thriller for sure. It’s a mystery as a young woman trying to find out what happened to their parents.

There are shades of Get Out and other films mixed in this film. Were any of those films a reference?

Yaw Agyapong: Yes, Get out was definitely definitely a big influence when I cam up with this story. Jordan Peele is somebody I definitely look up to in the industry. He opened the door for those kind of films. Instead of just being a hacker, slasher, monsters and demons and supernatural things, horror is right here in this world, right here in this country with the black experience. That's our horror every day. This is awesome to make everyday issues whether that means mental disabilities or race relations and make the point of heart in a film is incredibly intelligent. So when Jordan did that I said, "Hey, let me take my experiences and things that I’ve witnessed and make a film.”

Now Yaw, was it a challenge wearing many hats on this production, from producer, director and other roles?

Yaw Agyapong: Absolute challenge. It was very, very difficult. When you have a time constraint as well as financial constraints you have to do what you need to do just to get it done. But luckily I wasn't alone. I had my team. Devon Richardson also helped out behind the scenes and then had to act in it. Other people wore several hats but it was it was a difficult task overall but once you know the end goal, there's no backing out once you step on set and you want to do something. You have to just finish so I had to jump around here and there and lift sandbags do some pa work. Fortunately the end result was getting into ABFF in other big film festivals, so it was all worth it.

Devin, can you talk about your role as a producer and actor in the film?

Devin Richardson: It was an incredibly amazing opportunity just coming on board as both a producer and actor and making sure that the finances were in place as well as all the logistics. Leading up to the film itself, and just having to play that dual role of being an actor and having to memorized lines and go back and forth with my cast mates, it was very important. It’s was an incredibly enlightening and informative experience for me, just being a part of this production and wearing multiple hats. Like Yawl said earlier on, it was great being able to have background knowledge of this film, and be able to speak so much about it in a way that speaks to our people. Black people. Get it out in the festivals, and show what we're really capable of, even with all the obstacles that we had.

Yaw, you had done a number of short films prior to this. What made this time ready for you to make your first full length film?

Yaw Agyapong: What made me want to step up to do a full feature film is timing and experience. Experience is the master of all things. So, for me just learning the ins and outs and why I went wrong with audio color grading and then finally meeting people who are like minded like myself. They want to step up to the plate and actually get a project done. They want take advantage of it and tell obviously tell a story that was worth telling for a feature film. Funding. Money is the most difficult thing in the art industry to acquire when you're coming up independently. Luckily I met two producers who were willing to help me tell this story. Having done short films and documentary, it was time to step in the world of feature films. 

Can you talk about your cast?

Yaw Agyapong: Nessa Noel, our leading lady is an incredible actress. I wanted a black woman that had natural hairstyle and showed her roots and how beautiful black hair is in our culture. Through the movie, you'll notice some things happen with that in which I won't give too much away. That explained the problem that we have in our community with our hairstyles and stereotypes and things like that. Vanessa also had the innocent look but was very good at acting as well. We wanted somebody like that so that the audience grows some type of empathy or sympathy for the character.

The other co-stars had very creepy vibes and creepy looks. Terrence Keene had a very creepy look to him, but just phenomenal acting overall and we wanted somebody on the older side so that we see that mixture of old and young intertwine in this film. 

Will the film continue to travel through the festival circuit?

Devin Richardson: Yes, this is pretty much the last year. We have a couple more festivals leading to the end of 2020 for the film As of now, we will be in the process of acquiring distribution. I'm hoping to be streaming on video on demand platform very soon with the film. We’ve already been in talks with a few organizations regarding that. But this is the last one for the film. We’ve done 16 film festivals and I attribute that to the film, this being an amazing film touching on black mental health, the black identity, slavery, police intimidation, and police brutality. It's been an amazing run.