Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 12/8/09:

Bilal’s Stand, a feature film written and directed by local filmmaker Sultan Sharrief, has been accepted to the Sundance Film Festival’s NEXT category. It tells the story of Bilal, a Detroit high school student, and his struggle to pursue his dream of higher education.

The film was made as part of the Student EFEX Project  (“Encouraging the Filmmaking Experience”), a partnership between local artists, students from the University of Michigan, and metro Detroit high school students. The EFEX project and Bilal’s Stand grew from a class entitled, “Community Filmmaking,” created by Sharrief and Terri Sarris, a lecturer in U-M’s Department of Screen Arts and Cultures.

Bilal’s Stand, shot in and around Detroit on a shoestring budget, embodies the spirit of turning less into more. With the help of hundreds of community volunteers and talented young students, and the support of local businesses and the University, the film was made in the spirit of “The Little Engine That Could.”  Five years in the making, the film’s selection to NEXT is the culmination of an amazing journey.

And it’s not too late to be a part of it.

In order to meet Sundance screening requirements and to cover other necessary expenses, the Bilal’s Stand crew is currently fundraising.   Donations will help us in the last phase of this journey.

The Next category, new this year at Sundance, “is designed to cordon off space for low and no-budget filmmaking and is a showcase for eight ‘younger, fresher’ American filmmakers that live and breathe true indie spirit,” – John Cooper, Director, Sundance Film Festival, quoted in the “Hollywood Reporter”

“NEXT < = > films stretch a low budget to create big art. < = > (less than equals greater than) is our speak for creative risk-taking. Although these films share a new Festival category, there is nothing categorical about them. By nature they embody the true spirit of indie filmmaking.” – Sundance.org