An interview with Andy Capper on his new documentary film Reincarnated

Andy Capper took time out to speak to The Upcoming ahead of the cinematic release of his latest documentary Reincarnated…

Can you tell us a little about how the project came about?

Snoop’s camp approached us because they had seen documentaries we made like The VICE Guide to Liberia and Heavy Metal in Baghdad and they wanted us to film Snoop making his record in Jamaica, so we said yes and added a few things to his itinerary.

What was it like working with Snoop?

It was well good. He’s like a megastar. You don’t realise that until you go out into the public with him – everyone just starts losing their mind. It was fun!

Was Snoop Dogg’s transformation into Snoop Lion noticeable in the course of shooting?

Yeah, I think this was coming for a long time. You know, as he’s gotten older he’s started taking stock, looking around at his family. He wants to have songs he can perform that aren’t all about, you know, gangbanging and bitches and money, and he wanted to do a more positive record.

As director, how much of the film was set up and how much of it was spontaneous?

Well it was prearranged that we took him to places like the temple, but when we got there he free-styled it, which was kind of fun.

Was your process of filmmaking altered by the knowledge that this would be screened theatrically?

No, because we didn’t know it would be screen theatrically. We just started it like any other project; we did the best we could with it. It ended up being screened theatrically, which is a good thing.

How did it become a mainstream cinema release?

I guess we got to be accepted into the South by Southwest International Festival and a bunch of agents got to see the movie and decided to give it a theatrical run.

Andrew Collins

Reincarnated is out now at selected cinemas.

Watch the trailer for Reincarnated here: