Kinsey Beck is the director of the new documentary Man Free – which has been steadily attracting acclaim at film festivals in Europe, the USA and the Caribbean. Shot in various locations around Jamaica in 2003 and 2004, it’s not a “reggae movie” per se – focussing more on the lives of ordinary people and the trials they face in achieving their goals. The film also features one of the last interviews with The Harder They Come helmer Perry Henzell, who sadly passed away in 2006. Beck’s other documentaries include Circles In The Desert, looking at lives of Israelis and Palestinians, and his latest project Street Apostle examining Los Angeles gang culture. Kinsey sounded like an interesting character so Reggaeville dialled him up in LA to talk about Man Free and his eventful life – which sounds pretty documentary-worthy in itself!
From the films that you’ve made it seems you like to be on the frontline of things…
That would be very fair to say. My first film was in Israel and Palestine and I showed up with the camera, got myself some really good fixers and crossed lines of combat or lines of territory multiple times per day. I felt like I could get a real vision and see a real portrayal of what was going on out in the field. My style now has developed where I put myself out there, in the hands of fate and try and navigate through situations to try and find what I’m looking for.
What’s your background in terms of the visual arts?
I dropped out of high school and moved out of home when I was 14. I was emancipated by the courts when I was 16, so I was a legal adult. I was homeless from basically 15 through 18. I always had the desire to get into, originally, news and feature films. I started out in Los Angeles as a runner, a production assistant and worked my way up to an editor, then I was a director of development for a director named Steve Oedekerk who did all the Ace Ventura movies, Nutty Professor, Liar Liar. Then I found myself back in editing. I learned early on that if I’m a good editor I can actually start businesses with the money I make. So I would use the money I’d make as an editor to fund all these projects. I just taught myself everything on the way up.