Exhibitionists·Video

This director's career is 'deeply rooted' in her love of 90s hip-hop videos

Cazhhmere takes us on a trip down memory lane, explaining the influence that made her realize she wanted to be a filmmaker.

Award-winning filmmaker Cazhhmere takes us on a trip down memory lane

How this director's career is 'deeply rooted' in her love of 1990s hip-hop videos

8 years ago
Duration 2:27
Cazhhmere, director of award-winning music videos and now the filmmaker of a feature called "Deeply Rooted," opens up about how 90s hip hop videos changed her artistic life.

When an 8-year-old Cazhhmere walked onto the set of a hip hop music video, she left feeling one thing: empowerment. Inspired by the lights, the music and the stories, she decided early on that filmmaking was the sandbox she wanted to play in. "I don't want to be like the girls that are on camera. I want to be that woman that's behind the camera," she says.

Recently, after solidifying her place in music video history directing over 100 videos, Cazhhmere stepped in front of the camera to create the documentary Deeply Rooted about her family and their long-standing Canadian ancestry, which has been routinely questioned.

In the above video, watch as Cazhhmere discusses Rooted and also takes us through the 1990s hip-hop videos and films that drove her to create her own work for artists like Classified, JRDN, Juicy J, Howie D (yes, that Howie D, of the Backstreet Boys) and many others.

Check out Deeply Rooted at CBC Short Docs.

Watch Exhibitionists Sundays at 4:30pm (5 NT) on CBC.