Movie inspired by youth in D.C.
Laurence Hewitt grew up playing basketball in the District and thought the stories he saw someday would become the basis for his writing. However, it was not until he met a young deaf child that he found the inspiration for his most successful work, "My Brother ... My Keeper," a film that debuts Saturday at the Lincoln Theater in Northwest.
"I was constantly surrounded by interesting stories to write about," Mr. Hewitt, 43, said yesterday. "The story was already in the making, and I felt these characters were strong, but I wanted to put in a twist. Then I thought of my best friend's deaf nephew."
The story is about All-American high school basketball player Bernard Hill, who loses his hearing in a car accident, and the family and friends who help him rekindle his desire to play basketball again and prove his innocence related to a crime of which he was wrongly accused.
"Anyone can see [the film], from young to old," Mr. Hewitt said. "It crosses so many barriers. When you come see this movie, know that it's people from your community doing positive things."
The film was shot in the District and includes a deaf student and scenes from Gallaudet University — the largest liberal arts college in the United States for deaf and hard-of-hearing undergraduates.
A student, Samantha Gill, plays Bernard's sign-language tutor, Monica.
"It was definitely important for me to have a deaf person play" Monica, Mr. Hewitt said. "No one else could have done the deaf community justice."
Mr. Hewitt, who directed the film, said he finished the script 20 years ago, then "had no intentions of doing anything with it."
However, people who read "My Brother ... My Keeper" continuously praised the work, which kept him wondering about the possibilities.
Mr. Hewitt then took a few courses on filmmaking and editing while he started looking for a cast and financing.
"Every two weeks, I took a portion out of my paychecks," he said. "I scraped."
Mr. Hewitt said the film was made entirely with a cast and crew of undiscovered talents, which is the mission of his Up & Coming Entertainment production company.
He said Juhahn Jones, who plays Bernard, learned sign language for the role by interacting with Miss Gill and her deaf friends regularly after classes.
The power of such interaction between members of a community, Mr. Hewitt said, is exactly the message he hopes the film conveys.
"I was constantly surrounded by interesting stories to write about," Mr. Hewitt, 43, said yesterday. "The story was already in the making, and I felt these characters were strong, but I wanted to put in a twist. Then I thought of my best friend's deaf nephew."
The story is about All-American high school basketball player Bernard Hill, who loses his hearing in a car accident, and the family and friends who help him rekindle his desire to play basketball again and prove his innocence related to a crime of which he was wrongly accused.
"Anyone can see [the film], from young to old," Mr. Hewitt said. "It crosses so many barriers. When you come see this movie, know that it's people from your community doing positive things."
The film was shot in the District and includes a deaf student and scenes from Gallaudet University — the largest liberal arts college in the United States for deaf and hard-of-hearing undergraduates.
A student, Samantha Gill, plays Bernard's sign-language tutor, Monica.
"It was definitely important for me to have a deaf person play" Monica, Mr. Hewitt said. "No one else could have done the deaf community justice."
Mr. Hewitt, who directed the film, said he finished the script 20 years ago, then "had no intentions of doing anything with it."
However, people who read "My Brother ... My Keeper" continuously praised the work, which kept him wondering about the possibilities.
Mr. Hewitt then took a few courses on filmmaking and editing while he started looking for a cast and financing.
"Every two weeks, I took a portion out of my paychecks," he said. "I scraped."
Mr. Hewitt said the film was made entirely with a cast and crew of undiscovered talents, which is the mission of his Up & Coming Entertainment production company.
He said Juhahn Jones, who plays Bernard, learned sign language for the role by interacting with Miss Gill and her deaf friends regularly after classes.
The power of such interaction between members of a community, Mr. Hewitt said, is exactly the message he hopes the film conveys.
posted by Sonia Hollis at
07:29
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home