The Art of Living Well: "Who Will Start Another Fire" Plus Director Q&A With Jermaine Manigault, Emily Packer, and Lesley Steele

Sunday, November 07, 2021 @ 2:00pm

Hopewell Theater
5 S. Greenwood Avenue, Hopewell, NJ 08525

Who Will Start Another Fire is a collection of nine films by emerging filmmakers from underrepresented communities around the world, presented by the new distribution initiative Dedza Films.

Each of these stories is personal and distinctly told, but unified by themes of rebirth and growth.

The November 2 screening includes a post-film virtual Q&A featuring directors Jermaine Manigault (Not Black Enough), Emily Packer (By Way of Canarsie), & Lesley Steele (By Way of Canarsie).

Dedza Films is a distribution initiative dedicated to curating and facilitating the distribution of films from the next wave with a focus on underrepresented communities and early works of emerging storytellers.

Dedza aims to treat these stories in a way that is often reserved for features and help filmmakers who were impacted by COVID-19, which affected festival and release plans. Their mission is to curate, community build, and partner with other initiatives and organizations focusing on changing the landscape.

The nine films presented include:

Like Flying

15 Minutes / USA / 2020

Directed by Peier Tracy Shen

A young Chinese-American girl navigates her childhood through her parents’ broken relationship.

Family Tree

17 Minutes / Uganda / 2020

Directed by Nicole Amani Magabo Kiggundu

We meet Nagawa, an 8 year old, whose day is almost like any other. When her mother Margaret picks up Nagawa from school, she doesn’t have the heart to tell her daughter that her beloved father has been in a terrible accident.

Troublemaker

11 Minutes / Nigeria / 2019

Directed by Olive Nwosu

Obi is hot, bored, and desperate for something to do. When his best friend, Emeka, gives him a packet of firecrackers, the boys decide to have some fun.

Polygraph

20 Minutes / Israel / 2020

Directed by Samira Saraya

Based on a true story, Yasmine, an openly lesbian Arab nurse living in Tel Aviv, finds out that her lover Or, an intelligence officer in the Israeli army, has been reporting on their relationship.

The Lights Are On, No One’s Home

10 Minutes / USA / 2020

Directed by Faye Ruiz

Mar, a trans woman who left home years ago, returns to her old neighborhood to find her childhood home. Upon her return, she’s confronted with the changes that gentrification has brought to the place she once knew so well.

By Way of Canarsie

14 Minutes / USA / 2020

Directed by Lesley Steele & Emily Packer

A wandering portrait of an oft-neglected shoreline community, By Way of Canarsie imagines possible futures at odds with a peaceful present.

The Rose of Manila

12 Minutes / Philippines / 2020

Directed by Alex Westfall

An imagining of the formative years of Imelda Marcos, who, as one half of the Marcos regime, would become infamous for embezzling billions from the country to sustain her extravagant lifestyle.

Slip

11 Minutes / USA / 2019

Directed by Nicole Otero

A woman arrives home at the end of a regular day, but as she begins to turn in for the night, she is overcome with a sense of restlessness.

Not Black Enough

19 Minutes / USA / 2020

Directed by Jermaine Manigault

A young African-American man struggling to find his identity within his community meets a persuasive relic of the past.

This program is a part of Hopewell Theater's ongoing series, The Art of Living Well, featuring inspiring films, speakers and interactive discussions exploring ways of cultivating serenity, meaning and a deeper connection to one’s self and the world.

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