Streets Of Colour – racism, rap and hope in Western Sydney

Ronnie S. Riskalla is an award-winning screenwriter and director who has been producing movies since childhood. He is delighted that all the years of hard work on his latest feature, Streets of Colour have finally paid off, the film, which had its world premiere recently in Sydney, is now being released throughout Australia and New Zealand in selected theatres.

The movie, which deals with cultural identity and racism, surrounds Tez, a 25 year old middle-Eastern man who sees his best friend murdered in a street fight. His addiction to drugs then legally prohibits him from having access to his 2 year-old son – can he clean up his act?

“Tez has to find his path and ultimately find his redemption through some obstacles through the mean streets of Western Sydney. The film is loosely based on my experiences, if it didn’t happen to me, it happened around me,” says Riskalla.

The movie was in pre-production for 3 years then filmed in 30 days over two months. Post-production took a further 3 years and now the work continues for another year marketing and touring the movie. The pandemic also further delayed the premiere.

Riskalla describes this movie as a labour of love, hate and stress. “When you live with something for so long it can give you like PTSD symptoms. I have a strong love and passion for filmmaking and I have a drive that doesn’t run out of energy; even in the midst of PTSD, it can break through anything.”

The casting of Tez was of the upmost importance for the movie to work, an actor who could portray a young man whose angst, sense of desperation and hopelessness at his life situation would filter through realistically to audiences.

“I knew Rahel Romahn for 10 years at the time of the casting and when I wrote the film he was the only one I knew that could really deliver a stand-out performance. We did open the casting call and we were flooded with auditions and some were good but we needed great, so I offered the role to Rahel. He read the screenplay and loved it.”

Racism is a large part of the story and when asked whether the racism has increased or decreased in these areas of Sydney over time Riskalla paused momentarily.

“That’s a hard one to answer, I feel overall in society it’s better. I want to say YES it has gotten better but the experience that was the catalyst for the film was someone who racially abused me around that time in 2016. He sent me into the frenzy of writing the screenplay. I feel full blown-out racism is better but it’s the casual racism and systemic racism that is still quite ripe.”

Riskalla explained that this movie should appeal to anybody who enjoys a good story and the youth from Western Sydney who come from multicultural diverse backgrounds.

“It’s full of Aussie rap culture and Western-Sydney pop culture so it’s sure to entertain a lot of people. It has a great mix of drama dealing with social issues to action scenes and even some comic relief and romance. I tried to make a film that’s packed with much of what we deal with in our lives.”

Streets of Colour is a great film which not only entertains but is also a thought-provoking cinematic must see. But what does Riskalla hope that audiences will learn from watching this movie?

“To understand how racism can affect or even kill people; how cultures have trouble trying to assimilate because of that, and that hopefully people can learn how to embrace their cultures and where they come from. Finally, to have hope that no matter where you live you can confront any obstacles if you just have hope.”

For screening details visit: www.frankendipity.com