Making of
Bilal’s Stand, shot in and around Detroit on a shoestring budget, embodies the spirit of turning less into more. The film was made with not only the help of hundreds of community volunteers and talented young students, but the support of local businesses and the University. Despite numerous setbacks and many skeptical outsiders, Bilal’s Stand continued to evolve based on community input. Five years in the making – an eternity for most film schedules – Bilal’s Stand’s selection to the NEXT category of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival is the culmination of an amazing journey.
Perhaps the most important part of the filmmaking process was Writer/Director Sultan Sharrief’s creation of the EFEX Project (Encouraging the Filmmaking EXperience) as the key driver towards developing the story and production. This community-based filmmaking style empowers – rather than exploits – the people that it represents. Therefore Detroit youth were responsible not only to help develop the plot and dialogue, but were cast to deliver lines as they would from their personal experiences. The majority of the locations, talent, and crew were volunteered resources as the grassroots movement to create Bilal’s Stand grew.
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EFEX is a community-based, socially-conscious film program created by Beyond Blue Productions and the University of Michigan. The project uses the process of filmmaking as a comprehensive approach to teach young people how to live prosperous, socially valuable lives, and to provide pathways to diversity in higher education. By partnering metro Detroit high school students, University of Michigan students, and working professionals, EFEX creates a cross-cultural mentoring system that teaches media literacy, teamwork, goal setting, professionalism, and cross-cultural communication skills, while simultaneously producing a socially relevant film product.