Tonya Mosley

And I'm so curious about what this looks like for you and what types of considerations have you had to make or you just decided I'm going to bypass that and stand in my power?

If you're just joining us, my guest is filmmaker Nia DaCosta.

We're talking about her new film Hedda, a provocative reimagining of Henrik Ibsen's classic play Hedda Gabler.

We'll continue our conversation after a short break.

This is Fresh Air.

You went to public school in Harlem for a short period of time, right?

I did, yeah.

And then you made the switch to private school, then to boarding school.

Those are huge shifts.

Is there a particular moment that first year in boarding school, a time in school in general where you really learned that lesson of like, oh, I'm trying to be this thing, but I just need to be myself?

Your mother, Charmaine DaCosta, she was in the girl group Whirl a Girl.

They were a reggae group that did the Jamaica bobsled chant for the movie Cool Runnings, which came out in 1993.

And I actually want to play a little bit of it because I think that everybody kind of knows this once they hear it.

Let's listen to a little bit.

That was the reggae group Whirl a Girl singing the Jamaica bobsled chant, which was written and performed by my guest today's mother, Charmaine DaCosta.

You had to be around three or four when that came out.

So fun.

I love it so much.

Your mom, she's a powerhouse in her own right.

She's also been a gospel singer.