‘Harder They Fall’ Director Jeymes Samuel on Busting Western Stereotypes and Wooing Regina King – London Film Festival

variety.com:

K.J. Yossman Jeymes Samuel was inspired to make his Western-themed feature debut “The Harder They Fall” after growing up watching genre flicks on BBC One and feeling disappointed by the way they depicted women and people of color.Samuel, who grew up on Harrow Road in London, U.K., acknowledged his passion for the genre was unusual but explained that the BBC “were just hammering us with Westerns when I was growing up.”“I loved cinema. [I’m a] cinephile,” said Samuel during a press conference on Wednesday for the movie, which opens the BFI London Film Festival. “The genre of the Old West was always just alluring to me.“But the scope they showed those stories through was very narrow — they didn’t really leave a way either side for any other.