A Dive into The Black Sea

Ahead of the theatrical release of Metrograph Pictures’ title The Black Sea, co-directors Crystal Moselle and Derrick B. Harden share a filmmaker’s diary from the shoot, featuring BTS photos courtesy of Raquel Sousa.

Sozopol, Bulgaria

I’ve been drawn to the Balkans since I was a kid. I read about Bulgaria and the hardships they survived—stories of Sofia Slums, the Cathedral of Alexander Nevsky… I could go on and on. A couple of years ago I was invited to spend some time in Sozopol on the Black Sea and found it to be a kind, unique place. —Derrick

“The Wrestler”

I met this gentleman holding the lady in sparkles high in the sky almost exactly like what you see here. In the beginning of the shoot we were filming one of the film’s last scenes: I was walking down the main street in Sozopol and, by chance, “The Wrestler” (this man) lifted me up as a form of saying “hello, how are you?” I mean damn, totally funny and a slight violation, lifting me in the air like a basketball. He ended up becoming a friend and a character in the film. —Derrick

 “The Ice Queen”

Irmena Chichikova was the only actress we considered for the role of Ina. We heard her nickname in Bulgaria was “The Ice Queen” and thought that Derrick, being a master of disarming people, would be the perfect scene partner. It turns out she’s a gifted actress and not icy at all. —Crystal

Impromptu Photoshoot

Irmena and I were hanging out, walking around with Raquel Sousa where the fortune teller lived. Many might not know this but Irmena is a DJ and I’m a rapper, so we decided to do a playful album cover-type photoshoot (serious poses only). —Derrick

Capturing Life

It wasn’t an easy shoot—everything was constantly shifting—but we created a system of capturing life like a documentary and it ended up working really well. This was our team, everyone you see here; we had no lights and no gaffer, but Jackson, our DP on this film, was always reminding us that the light was changing. —Crystal

The Mud Bath

I sang Tupac’s song “Keep Ya Head Up” in my head the whole time we were filming the mud bath scenes. “Some say the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice. I say the darker the flesh then the deeper the roots” (Tupac). —Derrick