Hip Hop Congress

University of Michigan alum Sultan Sharrief has directed a new film called “Bilal’s Stand” (www.bilalsstand.com) which was made on a shoestring budget with support and involvement of communities in Detroit. The following link tells the story of how the project utilized the energy of area youth as part of their own educational development. It culminates with music by Hip Hop Congress artist Alex Schein (www.alexschein.com) to help unveil the power and message of the film:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1H9z96BegQ

Bilal’s Stand will debut 7pm Thursday, April 3rd at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor. This is the beginning what many hope will be a long journey for this film. Below is a press release that provides further background for those interested.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Feature film, Bilal’s Stand, debuts at Michigan Theater April 3rd.

This is the 2nd feature film from producer Sultan Sharrief. The first, The Spiral Project, was nominated for a 2006 MTV Movie Award. It was one of 5 finalist of over 500 entries. He hopes Bilal’s Stand- his writing/directing debut, will do as well.

Bilal’s Stand, tells the story of an inner-city high school student who works at his family’s long owned taxi stand. ‘The Stand’ has been the source of all money and activity for the family for sixty years, and it looks like Bilal is about to carry the torch. But after secretly getting accepted to the University of Michigan, and taking up ice sculpting in order to win a scholarship, Bilal is forced to decide whether he’ll continue to work at the family business, or if he’ll take a chance at social mobility. The film addresses issues that many inner city youth face in regards to peer pressure, unequal education, race, class, religion, and the notion of “selling out”.

The film was produced as the pilot film for the Student EFEX (Encouraging the
Filmmaking Experience) Program, a new community film project and course created by University of Michigan students, faculty, and staff in collaboration with Beyond Blue Productions.

The film debuts April 3rd at 7:00p.m. at the Michigan Theater. The program starts at 6:30p.m. There will be an introduction and comments by writer/director Sultan Sharrief and producer Professor Terri Sarris. Tickets on sale at the Michigan Theater box office one hour before show starts. Tickets are $6.00 for students and $8.00 for general public.

For more information go to www.bilalsstand.com or to watch behind the scenes footage go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1H9z96BegQ. EFEX combines filmmaking with service learning and community engagement, and serves as a new model for interaction between academic units and their surrounding artistic communities.