Another movie is being made in the South Coast, and this time it’s being written and directed by a locally based filmmaker and depicts the life experiences of an historically important New Bedford resident.
Fairhaven-based filmmaker Alyssa Botelho is in the final stages of producing “Sweet Freedom,” a movie based on the abolitionist Mary “Polly” Johnson, set in New Bedford in the 1830s prior to the Civil War. For the 24-year-old Botelho, this will be her 20th short film since her first endeavors as a Fairhaven High School student, beginning in 2014.
Twenty-five minutes in length, this film is another step in Botelho’s career as she will be applying to have the movie shown at high-profile film festivals such as Sundance and Tribeca, as well as finding a local audience in South Coast schools and area cultural establishments next fall.
With a cast and crew of more than 70, “Sweet Freedom” was shot in New Bedford, Dartmouth, Freetown and Marion over the course of five 12-hour-plus days this past November. While the film is largely fictional, it is based on the real-life experiences of Johnson and her role in the anti-slavery movement in New Bedford.
Botelho incorporated the input of local historical consultant Jan da Silva, who contributed to the development of the script. The next step for the movie is the post-production phase, which includes the editing of footage. It should be completed this summer. The project was funded by an Art Is Everywhere grant from New Bedford Creative, along with a grant from a local trust, community support from a Crowdfunding page, as well as her personal savings.
Related
Botelho has more reasons to be proud. Her capstone project from her senior year at the University of Rhode Island, the film “To Dust All Return,” earned her two Student Emmys — Best Director and Best Short Film — from the National Academy of Television, Arts and Sciences in 2022. Available for viewing on YouTube, the nine-minute production helped earn Botelho a partial scholarship to Rocaberti, a one-week developmental writer’s retreat next March in southwest France where “To Dust All Return” will be crafted into a full-length screenplay, her first feature script. Set in 18th century Salem during the witch hunting era, it is her longest film yet. The majority of her projects have spanned between three to 10 minutes in length and have been shown primarily in her classrooms, but she has also had showings at the Fairhaven Town Hall. Her work can also be viewed at alyssabotelho.net.
For the past seven years, Botelho has worked at Fairhaven TV, the town’s public access station. It was her first job. She began by filming local government meetings and town events but has progressed to include holiday-based children’s programming. In 2022, she co-wrote, co-directed and produced “Santa’s Bell,” which was awarded Best Children’s Program by National Hometown Media, a Chicago-based organization for public access television in the United States.
Today, Botelo puts in at least 40 hours a week on her film projects, often working seven days a week.
In addition to her film career, Botelho is the marketing manager at BOLD Real Estate, based in Mattapoisett, and she is the proprietor of Unforgettable Productions, a wedding videography company she founded in 2017.
Her interest in filmmaking took root during her freshman year at Fairhaven High School when she took a class in Media Production, taught by Drew Furtado. In 2021, she graduated from URI with a double major of film/media and business management.
According to Professor Keith Brown, who taught film to Botelho at URI, this young filmmaker possesses more than skills. He praises her work ethic and devotion to her films, traits that set her apart from most of her fellow students.
“I think her work on these (current) films will help her gain more funding on future projects,” Brown said. “I think she has proven that she is able to successfully create really beautiful shorts that tell important and interesting stories. But she has learned that being a storyteller alone is not enough. It’s evident that she has a crew that shares her vision and are great collaborators with her and will work with her to get her story to the screen.”
Furtado describes Botelho as “a trailblazer for women filmmakers in the South Coast.”
“I always admired her passion, curiosity, and sense of creative risk taking,” Furtado said. “I think the key to her success is that she’s not afraid of ‘no.’ With Alyssa, she’s passionate about stories and firmly believes her stories need to be told regardless of what people think.”
In an interview with the New Bedford Light, Botelho talked about the virtues of her early education in filmmaking at Fairhaven High School, the challenges of making a film, her inspirations, and future ambitions as a filmmaker.
New Bedford Light: What attracted you to filmmaking and what do you enjoy about it?
Alyssa Botelho: What attracted me to filmmaking first was storytelling. At Fairhaven High School I took a media production class with Drew Furtado and he introduced me to the basics — the making of a video and what makes a video interesting. I’ve always been into storytelling. I always say that I got my first library card when I was 2 weeks old. My parents really encouraged reading and learning about story, so that just naturally came about when I was learning about filmmaking, getting to pair writing and telling stories with film.
NBL: As a filmmaker how do you perceive the world? Do you see the world through a lens?
AB: I think I do. I think because I’ve been doing it for a little bit now — I was 14 when I really started focusing on filmmaking and now I’m 24 — and I think I do, but it’s so second nature to me now. I’ll walk into a place and think, “Oh, this would be a great setting for a story.” Or I’ll walk into a shop — I was in Circa the other day and I saw this piece, this medieval dress, and I immediately started thinking about “Who would wear that? What would their background be?” So I guess I do see the world in terms of film and story. Yeah.
NBL: What kind of movies do you like to make? What interests you as a filmmaker?
AB: I really like stories in different time periods, any different time period. Modern stories just bore me for some reason. I think what I just love is learning about people in different settings, different times and the different pressures that they had on them and the way that they would interact with people and how things on the surface can be so different — like the clothing they wear, and the way that they speak. The more surface level things can be so different, the situational things, but at the core people are still people and the fact that we today in 2023 with our technology and all these things, we can still relate to someone in the 1800s. I think it’s so cool. It says something about human nature, and that’s what I’m interested in.
I really love fantasy, and of course I love the historical stuff — I really love mixing the two. And then horror/suspense, I love that. Even with “Sweet Freedom,” it’s grant-funded and I feel like I’m giving back to the city with this film and I’m honoring Polly Johnson’s legacy and getting all the historical things right. But I still found a way to weave in a little suspense. I love that stuff.
NBL: For this film, where did you acquire the actors and where did you find your crew?
AB: With actors that was a whole big effort because it was a very large cast. So for casting we put out online calls, so we’re pulling from places like Backstage, Facebook acting groups and things like that. But also reaching out to personal contacts like different theater directors. We reached out to their networks. So we ended up with a cast that was really mixed — we have actors from Toronto, we have actors from Las Vegas, then we have a lot of local actors too from New York City. So kind of all over the place.
And for crew I have a core group that I bring with me since my high school days, and then have been adding people. My producers know some great people who are industry professionals, this is what they do day in and day out, so we added them to the group. So all the crew is local.
NBL: What are the biggest challenges when creating a film?
AB: The number one challenge with a film is time because there’s so much work to do in pre-production and deadlines will keep coming. I remember at one point saying that the weeks are flying by like minutes. I had no sense of time anymore, with this project especially, because it was such a huge undertaking. But on any set, when you’re filming and you’re doing it, they’re 12-hour days at a minimum, but those 12 hours will go by like that, and time is the enemy.
NBL: What are some of the things that go into a film that people don’t see when they’re watching it?
AB: I would say when you go to watch a movie you are really just seeing the tip of the iceberg in terms of all the work that was put in. With this film, people outside of the industry ask me how long it is, and I say “25 minutes” and they go, “Oh, that’s it?” And I’m like, yes, but it’s taken over a year of work, day in and day out. I’m not talking about a hobby, this is my full-time job. So the amount of work that goes into a film is really insane.
NBL: Why Polly Johnson? Why did you want to do a movie about her?
AB: Polly was really a significant person. In the time period of the 1800s the amount she was able to accomplish, and then you look at all the aspects of who she was — being a woman, being Afro-Indigenous — she did so much for her community. She accomplished so much for herself — building the most successful confectionery shop in the richest city in the world at the time. These are all incredible things. But she didn’t just hold onto the wealth for herself, she gave back and essentially made New Bedford a safe haven for people escaping slavery and coming to find freedom. She and her husband are really why New Bedford was a staple at that time period, pre-Civil War.
The fact that she’s not a household name, I keep coming back to that. I can’t believe that not many people know who she was. When I read her story that was my first thought. I’ve got this gift. I know how to make films. I’m not of the Afro-Indigenous community. I have a lot of learning to do and connections to make, and I just wanted to honor her.
NBL: How much research was necessary to put this film together?
AB: A lot of research. In terms of a time frame you’re looking at November of 2020 to May, about seven months. A lot of research into the time period, into who she was, so many little details along the way. I feel like the research never stopped, even up to the week before filming I was still learning little things just to make sure that we were getting our history right.
NBL: This is film number 20 for you. How are you getting better at it and what have you learned about filmmaking throughout the years?
AB: I’m getting better in the technical aspects of things, how to choreograph actors with camera and movement, making things engaging and interesting — the nerdy aspects of filmmaking. I’m getting better at that and that immerses viewers more when you’re in the hands of a director who is practiced and knows their craft, just knows how to stage things correctly, and that’s what I need to be doing. I think what I’m getting better at is crafting stories and getting to the heart of what they are and what the themes are and having that really resonate with people.
NBL: The South Coast is attracting a growing number of film projects. What do you think is the lure for filmmakers? What do you think is cool about the South Coast for filmmakers?
AB: I’ve done a little bit of traveling and worked in other places, but not a whole, whole lot. Even when I was out there, out in New Mexico, I was still thinking about home, and I think there’s something about the setting. I love traveling and seeing other places and cultures, it’s so exciting, it really opens up your mind. But the South Coast is always going to be my home. I’m always going to want to come back here. I think that’s because the setting is beautiful. The ocean does so much for you, and the people and their creativity. I love the ocean culture that we have. Our community has a cool balance of being creative and artistic, and our history reflects that. Back to Mark Twain, we have such a history here for artists of all kinds. But we’re also very real. I spent some time on the West Coast in California, and don’t get me wrong, I love it there, but I think there’s something about the gritty New England attitude, being real and authentic. I just love it, it’s the best place ever.
As a filmmaker this area has so many different landscapes. You’ve got the ocean and the woods and the mountains. The cities and buildings are out of this world. Even in little old Fairhaven, you’re walking around with these incredible buildings. There’s so much to capture here, there’s so many hidden gems.
NBL: How important and influential was your high school class in media production?
AB: I would not be anything that I am today without Fairhaven High School, Drew Furtado, and the video production program. That was everything to me, because I knew I liked writing — I’ve always liked writing — but that’s where I learned about filmmaking. I remember in my freshman year of high school and Drew was showing us these short films and every class was so inspirational. I remember he would put the camera in our hands, we were starting to make things and just connecting the dots and thinking “Oh, what you see on screen is not just magic, you can actually make it. That was hugely important for me.
NBL: Do you watch movies differently than when you were growing up and differently from a majority of viewers?
AB: Yeah. I definitely see movies and TV shows in a different way than I used to. I’m thinking about “How did they light that? That was smart of the director to have that choreographed that way.” Or “That’s a great performance, I love that they held that angle for so long.” I definitely see it in a different way, but there still is the magic there. And when a movie’s really good, like “Lord of the Rings” — it’s the only movie that can still really do this for me — you get completely lost and I forget all the technical aspects.
NBL: What are your personal ambitions as a filmmaker and where do you hope to be in the coming years?
AB: I want to keep making films and I want to make features, and it’s just getting to that point where producers and studios trust me and I can pitch myself and they see me as someone with a creative voice that can carry a story to fruition. Those are my ambitions.
My plan is to keep tackling the screenwriting aspect. If you look at most directors in the industry, a lot of them have these specific talents that got them to the role of director. James Cameron was really excellent with model making and FX work, making creatures look believable, and he became a director through that. With Quintin Tarantino it was writing, and so for me the writing aspect is what I’m really strong at and that’s how I’ll get to the director stage as well.
NBL: What directors do you emulate? Who do you get inspiration from?
AB: Some of my favorites are Peter Jackson, for sure. “Lord Of the Rings” is a masterpiece. There’s a smaller independent director, David Lowery, who just makes beautiful pieces, very thoughtful. And then, weirdly enough — and I didn’t realize it until recently — Quintin Tarantino is a huge influence on me. A lot of my work that I have my writing friends and collaborators read will say, “Oh, that’s so Tarantino!” And I say, “Oh yeah, you’re right.” James Cameron is awesome too. I’m just drawn to his work.
NBL: You graduated from college with a double major of film/media and business management. How will your studies in business benefit your film career?
AB: My studies in business have already really helped me out in my career. I think there is a misconception that because film is an art and it’s entertainment that it’s all fun and games to make it happen. But it really is a business. You’re dealing with contractors, vendors, and figuring out who’s my audience. There’s so much marketing that goes into it, all the logistics and the finances — I hate the finances but it’s a necessary evil. But having a background in business has really helped me already to make the film a reality.
Sean McCarthy is a freelance writer and frequent contributor to The New Bedford Light.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
More multimedia
Keep The Light shining with your donation.
As an independent, nonprofit news outlet, we rely on reader support to help fund the kind of in-depth journalism that keeps the public informed and holds the powerful accountable. Thank you for your support.