Mia Golden explores Black history in B.C. through All Access Edition documentary “African Rifles”

Content creation hasn’t always been a direct career path for Mia Golden. The Victoria, B.C. filmmaker has been an early childhood educator, a counsellor, an actor and now a documentarian—thanks in part to applying to TELUS STORYHIVE’s All Access Documentary Edition.

Her project, African Rifles, explores this history of B.C.'s first official militia formed solely with Black pioneers. By exploring archives, cemeteries, interviewing historians and ancestors, the film uncovers a past rich with diversity, benevolence, but also, bigotry. It’s now screened at Calgary Justice Film Festival, the Emerging Lens Cultural Film Festival and at Toronto’s International Black & Diversity Film Festival, for which it earned the Best Producer Award.

We talk to the budding documentarian about her reflections on storytelling, the importance of having a team of folks you want to create with and why diversity makes film projects more interesting.

STORYHIVE: Can you tell us a little more about your background in the entertainment industry — you’re fairly new at directing but you’ve been in the business for a while. What inspired you to start creating films and telling stories?

Mia Golden: For as long as I can remember—like, when I was very, very young—I told my mom I wanted to be a writer. I think I was five or something. I just wanted to make stories and that passion has persisted throughout my whole life.

Of course, like most creatives, I put it on hold. I pursued college and university, but a few years ago, I decided to get back into the things I enjoyed. I had also done some acting when I was young—just in plays—so I got into that again. I auditioned for my first play as an adult, got the part, and afterward, someone in the audience asked if I’d be willing to be in his short film. That’s how it all started.

From there, I began helping on the producing side and it just took off. It's a bug that won’t go away.

SH: Your film African Rifles explores the history of Black Canadians settling in Victoria, B.C. and how they formed the first Black militia. What made you want to tell this specific story?

MG: I just found it so interesting. Like many others, I had never heard of this before and I thought it was such a significant piece of history. The information came to me while I was on set for another project—we were shooting a short film, and I was one of the producers. During a break, one of the crew members started talking about some research he was doing for a different project. He stumbled across this piece of information and said, "Oh, did you know...?"

Of course, I didn't, and I found it fascinating. So I started digging into it and thought, “This is a story that needs to be told.” I reached out to the guy who first mentioned it [producer Tarak Kjartanson] and told him, "I'm going to apply for a grant—do you want to come on board as a producer?" Then I contacted my longtime producing partner [Kelly Conlin]—we’ve done eight or nine projects together. She's an amazing cinematographer and editor. I asked her to come on board as well, and it became the three of us.

The more research we did, the more stories emerged. From that one little tagline, we uncovered so much more. I had to remind both Kelly and Tarak, “We need to rein it in—our story is about this militia. We have to stay focused.”

SH: Speaking of that… story is important to all projects, but so is your team! Can you tell us a little more about them?

MG: Kelly [the film’s producer, cinematographer and editor] and I have worked together on so many projects now, and I can't imagine not having her as part of the team—she's such a critical part of the process. Her vision is amazing, and working with her as a director has actually improved my skill set exponentially with each film. She's just so skilled. It’s been really great.

Tarak was very enthusiastic and eager to delve into these stories. He actually already had travel plans, so we lost him about six months into the project. But he was, of course, the spark that set everything in motion.

I also have another longtime collaborator who wasn't on this film because she was pregnant and having a child, but she and I have worked on most of the same films together—she’s a producer as well.

Having the right team is everything. I find myself always going back to the key players we gel with. I think this is true for a lot of filmmakers—once you find your people, you just want to keep creating with them.

SH: You also have a background in counselling. Does this inform how you approached the story at all?

MG: Yeah, I think my background in counseling weaves into everything I do. Initially, when I was envisioning African Rifles, I just thought it was going to be a story—I didn’t realize how much it would impact me or others. In fact, I didn’t even want to be in it at first.

That’s where my mentor, Cheryl Foggo, came in. She was amazing—she would slip in these little nuggets of wisdom that really informed some of the choices I made. But just doing the research alone, you can't help but approach these stories from a humanistic perspective. I found myself empathizing deeply with so many of the characters and themes.

SH: You mentioned Cherly Foggo was the mentor you were paired with through our partnership with the National Screen Institute. Can you tell me more about your experience working her?

MG: Yeah, it was really cool. I tend to be a bit of an introvert—people don’t always realize that about me because, when I’m out in public, I can be pretty outgoing. So meeting new people is always an interesting experience for me.

I didn’t realize going in just how valuable the mentoring process would be. Like I said, she would offer these gentle but brilliant little nuggets of wisdom, and I don’t know if she realizes how impactful they were—especially in relation to my role as a Black person telling this story.

I’ve always grown up in predominantly white communities, and I’ve often felt like I needed to pull back on the fact that I’m different. Even within my own family, everyone else is white—I’m the only person of color. She was able to tap into that and remind me that my perspective is important. It serves as a helpful anchor for others to see the story through.

SH: Now that you’ve been through the STORYHIVE Editions program, what advice would you give to other emerging filmmakers who are thinking of applying?

MG: Definitely do it. It’s been such a positive experience—the amount of support filmmakers receive is incredible.

Even though I’ve been in the filmmaking business for a few years, the learning curve is constant and steep. I can’t imagine ever reaching a point where I’m not learning. With each project, I gain not only a deeper understanding of the filmmaking process but also a better sense of myself within it.

The support I received from STORYHIVE and my assigned mentor was consistent and invaluable. At no point did I ever feel like I was doing this alone and that’s the key. It’s such a valuable resource for us as filmmakers.

SH: What advice would you have for any filmmakers currently filming their STORYHIVE projects?

MG: Meet the deadlines. For sure. And don’t be afraid to ask for help. I think that’s something many of us struggle with when we’re emerging in any industry—we’re afraid to ask.

It’s like in high school, when teachers would say, There are no dumb questions, but everyone is still afraid to ask them. Ask them. If you don’t know something, there’s a reason to ask.

Dig deep. You might think you have your story, but there’s always more. Keep digging, keep looking in all the little cracks and crevices. Even if what you find doesn’t end up in this film, it will expand your perspective.

Don’t leave things to the last minute. And collaborate with as many people as possible.

Something else I’ve noticed—living in Victoria, diversity has improved, but it’s still not huge in my community. People often come from their own lens. I look around at my fellow filmmakers, who are doing brilliant work, but sometimes I notice their casts and crews are all white. It’s not ill-intended—it’s just not always on their radar.

So I like to encourage people to think about diversity. There are so many strong women out there, so many different age groups and cultural backgrounds to represent. A couple of years ago, I did a short film where we had everyone from a baby boomer to a baby plus a mix of cultural backgrounds. And it looked great on screen. It wasn’t forced—it was just real life.

SH: This has been hitting the film festival circuit! What do you want the audience to know about the film before they see it?

MG: What I keep hearing from people is that they had no idea. It’s really made them think about all the untold stories in our Canadian history—and it’s shared history. This isn’t just Canadian history; it’s American history too.

The timing of what’s happening in the U.S. right now, and one of the themes in African Rifles, is a strange and unfortunate coincidence. In the film, we talk about annexation, and now, over a century later, it’s becoming a concern again.

But yeah, to answer your question—I’d say be prepared to learn something new about our history.

SH: What's next for Mia Golden; touring the film, working on anything new?

MG: Well, we just finished shooting again—Kelly, Anna Maria, and I just wrapped a short film.  Next month, we’re filming another short: an Indigenous-focused film and I’ll be directing that one.

I also just applied for a grant for a feature film I wrote… and right now, I’m in the midst of working on a documentary about my biological father.

We’ve done a little bit of filming, but we need to apply for more grants. My father was a Jamaican Olympic athlete, and in an NBC Sports interview, Usain Bolt was asked, In your opinion, who is the greatest Olympic athlete of all time? He answered, Herb McKenley—who was my father.

I’m making this documentary because I never got to know him. I only found out about him six or seven years ago. So this film is both about him and about me discovering who he was—and all the unexpected similarities between us.

Congratulations to Mia on the amazing achievements. Watch African Rifles now on TELUS Optik TV channel 9 and Stream+. Follow Mia on Instagram @goldenjamaican.