It's a big week for Ruth E. Carter, who on Sunday could become the first African-American to win an Academy Award for costume design through her Afro-futuristic wardrobes in "Black Panther." But before that show, Carter will receive a career achievement award Tuesday at the 21st annual Costume Designers Guild Awards.
She talked about her early years with Spike Lee and her favorite "Black Panther" costumes during a recent interview with The Associated Press .
WHERE IT ALL STARTED
This Jan. 15, 2019 photo shows renderings of fashions created by Oscar nominated costume designer Ruth E. Carter for the film "Black Panther," in Los Angeles. Carter will also be honored for her illustrious career at the 21st annual Costume Designers Guild Awards on Tuesday in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Chris PizzelloInvisionAP)
Carter still possesses her sketches from her college days at Hampton University and during an internship with the Santa Fe Opera.
She spent countless hours drawing all sorts of characters, honing her craft in her dorm room and small studio in Los Angeles a few years after college. One sketch she keeps handy is of a unisex dancer sporting red and gray tights.
"I was so excited about the idea of costume design and how it intersects with art. I really wanted to draw the characters out. I spent a lot of time in my dorm room or once I came out to L.A. in my semi-studio at my drafting table," said Carter, who graduated from Hampton in 1982.
This Jan. 15, 2019 photo shows renderings of fashions created by Oscar nominated costume designer Ruth E. Carter from Spike Lee's 1992 film "Malcolm X," in Los Angeles. Carter will also be honored for her illustrious career at the 21st annual Costume Designers Guild Awards on Tuesday in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Chris PizzelloInvisionAP)
In her early days, Carter delved into a script and drew characters before knowing the person who would play the role. She did that in her first-ever film, Spike Lee's "School Daze."
"My process at the beginning was to go head on into the script and draw out the characters and make them funny," said Carter, speaking with sketches from a cross-section of her lifetime work laid out on a table.
Carter had numerous sketches including Chicken George from "ROOTS," a zoot suit drawing of Malcolm X and a boxing promoter named Sultan from the "The Great White Hype."
In this Jan. 15, 2019 photo, designer Ruth E. Carter, nominated for an Oscar for best costume designs for "Black Panther," poses for a portrait in Los Angeles. Carter will also be honored for her illustrious career at the 21st annual Costume Designers Guild Awards on Tuesday in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Chris PizzelloInvisionAP)
"This is what I do, this is what I love," she said.
CARTER'S FAVORITE COSTUME
Carter has created costumes of memorable characters from Denzel Washington's Malcom X in "Malcolm X," Spike Lee's Mookie in "Do the Right Thing" and Forest Whitaker's Cecil Gaines in "The Butler."
In this Jan. 15, 2019 photo, designer Ruth E. Carter, nominated for an Oscar for best costume designs for "Black Panther," poses for a portrait in Los Angeles. Carter will also be honored for her illustrious career at the 21st annual Costume Designers Guild Awards on Tuesday in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Chris PizzelloInvisionAP)
But she said her favorite costumes came from "Black Panther," particularly the Dora Milaje, a team of women elite warriors who protected the kingdom of Wakanda. She said the layered wardrobes of the all-female special forces were "impactful" and "powerful."
"I was very inspired when we did these illustrations," said Carter, who worked with six illustrators on the superhero Marvel film. She typically works with one.
"You know, it's quite imaginative. Because we had to work in so many different ways and so fast, I'm really proud of these because we were able to create a look and a world in a short amount of time."
PAYIN' IT FORWARD
Even though Carter paved her own way as a costume designer, she never had a problem uplifting others.
That's the mindset she particularly had while working with Spike Lee. She said the mission at Lee's production company, 40 Acres and a Mule, was to positively "push the Afro future and African diaspora."
"We considered ourselves positive role models in the film industry," she said. "There were always internships at 40 Acres and a Mule where we were teaching younger people who didn't have an inroad to the film industry, exposing so many people to the industry including myself. Because of that, I give back as much as I can."
Online:
https://ruthecarter.com
https://www.oscars.org
Follow AP Entertainment Writer Jonathan Landrum Jr. on Twitter: http://twitter.com/MrLandrum31
VENICE, Italy (AP) — Under the gaze of the world’s media, the fragile lagoon city of Venice launched a pilot program Thursday to charge day-trippers a 5-euro (around $5.35) entry fee that authorities hope will discourage visitors from arriving on peak days and make the city more livable for its dwindling residents.
Visitors arriving at Venice's main train station were greeted with large signs listing the 29 dates through July of the plan's test phase, as well as new entrances separating tourists from residents, students and workers.
Stewards were on hand to politely guide anyone unaware of the new requirements through the process of downloading the QR code to pay the fee.
“We need to find a new balance between the tourists and residents,’’ said the city’s top tourism official, Simone Venturini. “We need to safeguard the spaces of the residents, of course, and we need to discourage the arrival of day-trippers on some particular days.”
Arianna Cecilia, who lives in Rome and was visiting Venice for the first time with her boyfriend, said it felt “strange" to have to buy a ticket to enter a city in her native Italy, and then pass through a tourist entrance.
The couple were staying in nearby Treviso, and had paid the fee and downloaded the QR code as required prior to arrival.
Workers in yellow vests carried out random checks at the train station, and anyone caught faces fines of 50 euros to 300 euros — though officials said “common sense” was being applied for the launch.
The requirement applies only for people arriving between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Outside of those hours, access is free and unchecked.
Venice has long suffered under the pressure of over-tourism, and officials hope the pilot project can help provide more exact figures to better manage the phenomenon.
The city can track the number of hotel visitors — which last year numbered 4.6 million, down 16% from pre-pandemic highs. But the number of day visitors, which make up the majority of the crowds in Venice, could only be estimated until recently.
A Smart Control Room set up during the pandemic has been tracking arrivals from cell phone data, roughly confirming pre-pandemic estimates of 25 million to 30 million arrivals a year, said Michele Zuin, the city’s top economic official. That includes both day-trippers and overnight guests.
But Zuin said the data is incomplete. “It’s clear we will get more reliable data from the contribution” being paid by day-trippers, he said.
Venturini said the city is strained when the number of day-trippers reaches 30,000 to 40,000. Its narrow alleyways are clogged with people and water taxis packed, making it difficult for residents to go about their business.
Not all residents, however, are persuaded of the efficacy of the new system in dissuading mass tourism. Some say more attention needs to be paid to boosting the resident population and services they need.
Venice last year passed a telling milestone when the number of tourist beds exceeded for the first time the number of official residents, which is now below 50,000 in the historic center with its picturesque canals.
“Putting a ticket to enter a city will not decrease not even by one single unit the number of visitors that are coming,’’ said Tommaso Cacciari, an activist who organized a protest Thursday against the measure.
“You pay a ticket to take the metro, to go to a museum, an amusement park; you don’t pay a ticket to enter a city. This is the last symbolic step of a project of an idea of this municipal administration to kick residents out of Venice,” he said.
Venturini said about 6,000 people had already paid to download the QR code, and officials expect paid day-tripper arrivals Thursday to reach some 10,000.
More than 70,000 others have downloaded a QR code denoting an exemption, including to work in Venice or as a resident of the Veneto region. People staying in hotels in Venice, including in mainland districts like Marghera or Mestre, should get a QR code attesting to their stay, which includes a hotel tax.
The tourist official says interest in Venice's pilot program has been keen from other places suffering from mass tourism, including other Italian art cities and cities abroad such as Barcelona and Amsterdam.
Marina Rodino, who has lived in Venice for 30 years, is opposed to the new plan. She was passing out mock EU passports for “Venice, Open City,” underlining the irony of the new system, and challenging its legal standing with citations from the Italian constitution guaranteeing its citizens the right to “move or reside freely in any part of the national territory."
Rodino has seen her local butcher close and families leave her neighborhood near the famed Rialto Bridge as short-term apartment rentals spring up. But she said the new entrance fee requirement will still allow young people to flood the city in the evening for often rowdy gatherings.
“This is not a natural oasis. This is not a museum. It is not Pompeii," she said. “It is a city, where we need to fight so the houses are inhabited by families, and stores reopen. That is what would counter this wild tourism.”
Tourists arrive in Venice, Italy, Thursday, April 25, 2024. The fragile lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. The daytripper tax is being tested on 29 days through July, mostly weekends and holidays starting with Italy's Liberation Day holiday Thursday. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment, while another 70,000 will receive exceptions, for example, because they work in Venice or live in the Veneto region. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Stewards check tourists QR code access outside the main train station in Venice, Italy, Thursday, April 25, 2024. The fragile lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. The daytripper tax is being tested on 29 days through July, mostly weekends and holidays starting with Italy's Liberation Day holiday Thursday. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment, while another 70,000 will receive exceptions, for example, because they work in Venice or live in the Veneto region. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Stewards check a tourist QR code access outside the main train station in Venice, Italy, Thursday, April 25, 2024. The fragile lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. The daytripper tax is being tested on 29 days through July, mostly weekends and holidays starting with Italy's Liberation Day holiday Thursday. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment, while another 70,000 will receive exceptions, for example, because they work in Venice or live in the Veneto region. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
A steward shows the QR code access outside the main train station in Venice, Italy, Thursday, April 25, 2024. The fragile lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. The daytripper tax is being tested on 29 days through July, mostly weekends and holidays starting with Italy's Liberation Day holiday Thursday. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment, while another 70,000 will receive exceptions, for example, because they work in Venice or live in the Veneto region. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
A steward checks a tourist QR code access outside the main train station in Venice, Italy, Thursday, April 25, 2024. The fragile lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. The daytripper tax is being tested on 29 days through July, mostly weekends and holidays starting with Italy's Liberation Day holiday Thursday. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment, while another 70,000 will receive exceptions, for example, because they work in Venice or live in the Veneto region. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Stewards check tourists QR code access outside the main train station in Venice, Italy, Thursday, April 25, 2024. The fragile lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. The daytripper tax is being tested on 29 days through July, mostly weekends and holidays starting with Italy's Liberation Day holiday Thursday. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment, while another 70,000 will receive exceptions, for example, because they work in Venice or live in the Veneto region. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Tourists take pictures at the St. Mark square in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday, April 25, 2024 to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Tourists ride on a ferry boat in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday, April 25, 2024 to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
People stand in front of an information board explaining how to pay the tourist tax in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday, April 25, 2024 to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Marco Bettini, director of Venis Informatics System, gestures as he talks to reporters at the police Venice control room, in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday, April 25, 2024 to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Venice councillor Simone Venturini speaks with reporters in front of a tourist tax totem in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday, April 25, 2024 to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Workers prepare banner explaining how to pay the tourist tax in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday, April 25, 2024 to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Marco Bettini, director of Venis Informatics System, gestures as he explains the Venice density to reporters at the police Venice control room in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday, April 25, 2024 to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Tourists arrive at the main train station in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday, April 25, 2024 to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Workers prepare the tourist tax cashier desks outside the main train station in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday, April 25, 2024 to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Porters wait for tourists outside the main train station in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday, April 25, 2024 to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Workers prepare the tourist tax cashier desks outside the main train station in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday, April 25, 2024 to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Workers prepare the tourist tax cashier desks outside the main train station in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday, April 25, 2024 to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Porters wait for tourists outside the main train station in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday, April 25, 2024 to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Tourists arrive outside the main train station in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday, April 25, 2024 to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Tourist information boards are seen outside the main train station in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday, April 25, 2024 to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Tourists arrive outside the main train station in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The lagoon city of Venice begins a pilot program Thursday, April 25, 2024 to charge daytrippers a 5 euro entry fee that authorities hope will discourage tourists from arriving on peak days. Officials expect some 10,000 people will pay the fee to access the city on the first day, downloading a QR code to prove their payment. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
