Emerson Screenwriting Professor Selected for Prestigious Writers’ Retreat

Come November, Visual & Media Arts Assistant Professor Thato Mwosa ’01 will participate as one of 14 writers selected for this year’s lineup of the prestigious Writer’s Lab.

The program is regarded as the only offering in the world dedicated exclusively to elevating the work of women and non-binary screenwriters older than 40. The Lab provides intensive script development and industry networking opportunities. Each writer is paired with an established mentor, with this year’s mentors including writers of Inside Out, Boys Don’t Cry, Mulan, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and more.

The Writer’s Lab is funded by Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, and several foundations. Applicants were chosen based upon a submitted script. For Mwosa, her script for Rati was selected.

Mwosa spoke about The Writer’s Lab, writing retreats, how her experiences make her a better educator for Emerson students, and whether she’ll get to meet Streep and Kidman.

This is an edited version of Mwosa’s conversation with Emerson Today

Why apply for The Writer’s Lab?

Mwosa: This is my second time applying to The Writer’s Lab with my script [Rati]. It’s gone through major revisions based upon notes from different entities. The first time I applied was in 2021, and I made the semifinalist list. The notes you get when you get a little closer to getting in are very invaluable. I spent the next three years taking notes and revising.

The Writer’s Lab is a great place to network, develop the script, and work with a mentor. I think the script is in great place. Now it’s, how do I get it produced and financed? I need professionals in the industry to look at it, and to learn where to go from this point.

It’s set in Botswana, where I’m originally from. I want to film it in Botswana [but] Botswana doesn’t have the infrastructure for a film industry. There are a lot of emerging filmmakers. It’s not like South Africa, which has an infrastructure, where it’s easy to get crew and equipment. One of the things I want to do is get someone who can help me figure those things out. I’m hoping to connect to producers, especially producers who’ve worked on the continent.

What is Rati about?

Mwosa: It’s a coming-of-age story. It addresses child sexual violence, like grooming and our society’s response to these cases. Those cases are rising every day. Following news in Botswana, things haven’t gotten better since I started writing the script in 2018, when there was a case that infuriated women in Botswana and marched in the streets for a couple of weeks. The current first lady [Neo Masisi] took on the mission to end child sexual violence.

Due to the case, more and more people came out to speak about childhood [sexual violence], and some are adults saying, ‘This happened to me as a child,’ or in high school. I realized I had to do something. I process things through writing. I wanted to highlight this issue and hopefully spur dialogue and have some understanding. I wanted to make it personal, from the view of the young protagonist of the script, to understand what happens, the physical and psychological struggle when they are impacted by this kind of thing.

The script is called Rati. The girl’s name is Rati. She’s in high school, and doing very well in school, but has to drop out and navigate her life trajectory that is drastically changed because of this incident, and we see her trying to sort of figure out a way she can get educated. When a girl gets pregnant in Botswana, they must leave school, and legally can’t be in school until they return no longer pregnant. There is a shame. I wanted to follow her emotional journey through the film.

Why is she named Rati?

Mwosa: Rati means ‘love’ in Setswana – that’s a language spoken in Botswana and South Africa. I struggle as an African in America. African names are hard, I want a name that’s easy to say. We must love our children, and part of loving children is protecting them. Botswana and society need to embrace that love means protection, too, and show that they are not in danger and can gain education without fear of predators. There are a lot of predators of sexual violence to kids and women, and it’s a real issue in Botswana and South Africa.

What is the status of Rati?

Mwosa: The script is ready. I’m hoping we can talk about production next year.

I’m excited to go through The Writer’s Lab and find a producer or get connected to a producer. I was in the Stowe Story Lab in Vermont in June, and got good feedback and connected to some people. I got a lot of notes from June, and I’ve spent two months using those notes.

I’m typically writer/director, and I tend to produce my own stuff, and by nature as an independent filmmaker, that’s what we have to do. For this project, I want to get someone seasoned to produce. The challenge we face as filmmakers is getting funding.

You’re paired with an established mentor for the Writer’s Lab. Do you know who is your mentor?

Mwosa: No. Based on the list and what I’ve read of their work, any one would be great.

Do you get to meet Meryl Streep?

Mwosa: That’s a good question, I hope so. I hope she shows up. I actually don’t know. I have not asked that question, but I’m hoping even virtually she’ll show up. Her schedule must be busy.

How does your Writer’s Lab experience make you a better educator of Emerson students?

Mwosa: I’m at the first Pan-African Screenwriters’ Retreat in South Carolina [during this interview], and I have a mentee. I think it’s getting to read a lot of scripts. It helps me with ideas. I learn a lot from other mentors. We spend a lot of time offline because we’re here: sharing ideas, sharing resources, and talking about our own scripts.

Right now, a mentor is reading my script. That’s helpful for me – as a teacher, it’s a strength when I gain perspective from different people. We teach professionally, and think we all have it together. We’re experts, but we still have a lot of growth [to do]. I’m growing as a teacher.

One session I attended [in South Carolina] is about character development by another mentor. I attended because I want to see how he teaches it. I teach character development. He teaches character development so differently than I do. …Afterwards I had a conversation with him, and I’m going to apply things to my classroom. I’m excited to return to the classroom.

What’s the Pan-African Screenwriters’ Retreat like?

Mwosa: It’s taking place on St. Helena’s Island at the Penn Center. [Note: Founded in 1862, it was one of the first schools in the South specifically created to educate formerly enslaved people]. [There are] people across the African diaspora [at the retreat]. This is the inaugural year of the retreat. The plan is for it to go to Africa next year, and give opportunities to African writers and help with their craft. I plan to get involved. I enjoy mentoring. I know African screenwriters are challenged. They face more challenges than we do here.

You’re on several organizations’ boards including the Loop Lab and the Boston Neighborhood Network (BNN) in Boston. What are your goals for those roles?

Mwosa: For BNN and Loop Lab, which is right next to Emerson, it’s about youth education. I’ve always worked with young people. I was a high school film teacher. The Loop Lab asked me to be on the board, and we’re doing a lot work with a lot of young people in Boston, people of color. We’re doing a screenwriting workshop this fall. I see where I can help. I really want to work with them on writing and teach about storytelling.

What else are you working on?

Mwosa: The Massachusetts Department of Public Health commissioned me to work with youth organizations, and produce a film for Girls Inc. of Lynn and produce a film for Girls Inc. of the Valley. It’s one organization at two different locations. I worked with youth to come up with their own ideas, and the result was short films that tackle youth issues. I helped to turn their stories into scripts and get them involved in the productions of the films. We got professional crews, and the youth writers were production assistants.

I’m finishing a script set in Boston. It’s another coming-of-age story about a first-generation African girl who is struggling with her parents in a cultural clash. She’s become Americanized, and it’s creating conflict. I came here for college. I have teenagers, and one is going to college. I’m very much American, and I can see how different we are and how those things become challenging. My husband is from Kenya and America, we take our children to Botswana and Kenya. I wrote it loosely inspired by my own life, but it’s fictional.

Rewind is the title because the girl makes mistakes and she realizes in the end that her parents are correct and she wants to rewind and start again.

Anything else you’d like to share?

Mwosa: People are always asking me how much time do I have in the day. I’m also an artist and recently had an exhibit on Martha’s Vineyard.

I created an African card game called SAWA Trivia. My work as a storyteller is to promote authentic and positive points of view about Africa. The game came about because I wanted to make something fun and accessible for parents. My family loves playing boardgames. It was launched in 2021 [during the pandemic], and it was good because people were buying board games at the time.

I continue to educate people about Africa. One of the things that frustrates me, is the way Africa is viewed from the West. The media has distorted the narratives. They’re very negative, they think war, poverty, and they think deprivation. But that’s not my experience in Africa. That’s a single story of Africa, but Africa is more than that. That’s why I do storytelling through film, and do it by the trivia game. To show the rich culture and history we have in Africa.