I'm the director of 'Queen and Slim'

and also one of the producers.

This scene is when Daniel Kaluuya, who

plays Slim, and Queen, Jodie Turner-Smith,

first fall in love.

It represents their second date,

but also a moment that they are so determined

to have because they might not make it to the end.

They may not be afforded another chance to dance,

to connect, and ultimately, to fall in love.

"Oh, I don't drink."

"Maybe you should start."

The space is a juke joint, but it represents for them

a safe haven, a place where they are connected.

Thus, I named it The Underground

after The Underground Railroad.

I've always thought of their journey

as representing a reverse slave escape narrative

as they are black fugitives running from the north

traveling south.

They are protected here in the womb of their community,

and they utilize this fleeting moment of safety

to connect, and ultimately, to fall

in love for the first time.

The production design of the space

was modeled after the photography

of Birney Imes, who photographed the deep south.

And he has a book on juke joints

that I modeled some of the design after.

But I also modeled it after these beautiful hand-painted

landscapes that mark many shelters in Jamaica,

particularly outside of Kingston on my favorite beach

called Hellshire Beach.

I wanted the design to speak to the black diaspora

as well as the American South and all the subtle ways

in which the black community is connected.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

The scene was scripted as if it

was meant to be their first dance at their wedding.

I remembered the feeling of watching 'West Side

Story,' one of my favorite films.

And when Tony sees and dances with Maria

for the first time, how they're

in this bubble shutting the world out around them.

And I wanted Queen and Slim to feel the same way

in that moment.

Another reference for this scene was 'In the Mood

for Love.'

I wanted them to feel shrouded in that love

and in that light and the color

and in these languid, poetic moments in a similar way

as Wong Kar-wai was so beautifully

able to paint in his film.

We also used Steadicam to dance with the actors.

We had set up the space so we could see and rotate 360

without seeing ourselves or equipment

as I wanted the camera to feel like part

of the choreography.

I wanted to use these long, languid shots to pull you

into this moment.

This is also one of the few times we

used a few slow motion shots.

It was important to make this moment somewhat surreal

so as to mirror the feeling you

get when you're lost in love and the world's slowing down

around you.

There's no one else in the room as they dance,

not literally, but figuratively.

The music drops out and we bring in for the first time

this beautifully composed theme

which represents their love.

We call it the 'Love Theme' and it

was composed by our amazing composer, Dev Hynes.

[MUSIC - DEV HYNES, 'LOVE THEME']

"What do you want?"

"I want a guy to show me myself.

I want him to love me so deeply

I'm not afraid to show him how ugly I can be.

I want him to show me scars I never knew I had."

It was a choice I made in the edit to take

their words from the next scene

and lay them over this first dance

so it's as if you can feel and hear her thoughts as she's

experiencing them in real time.

"And I want him to cherish the bruises they leave behind."

And as the song ends and the people around them

cheer the bands, it's as if they

are applauding their love.

This takes them back into real time

and they leave together, connected

and as one for the first time in their story.

[CHEERING]

[MUSIC - DEV HYNES, 'LOVE THEME']

"We should go."