FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Player Hating: A Love Story Hits It’s Stride!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 13, 2011
New Orleans filmmaker Maggie Hadleigh-West and the New Orleans Film Society present award-winning documentary PLAYER HATING: A LOVE STORY about Brooklyn “thug” culture; hosted by former City Councilman Oliver Thomas
Filmmaker Premiers Film in NOLA, prior to the theatrical premier in New York City in April, because poverty and gun violence is destroying inhabitants in the city she loves and calls home
NOTE TO PRESS: Hadleigh-West is available for phone interviews by contacting her at (718) 230-0885 or (646) 765-9697. In-person interviews in the New Orleans area can also be arranged in advance by contacting Heather Harper (504) 289-0499.
When: Saturday, Jan. 14, 7 p.m. and 9:30pm
Filmmaker will be present at the 7 pm showing with Mr. Thomas, with discussion following screening
Other screenings with filmmaker Hadleigh-West: Sunday, Jan. 15, 6 p.m. / Monday (MLK Day), Jan. 16, Noon.
Additional schedule through February 26 (for six additional weekends): www.yomaggie.com/playerhating.html
Where: Café Istanbul, 3272 St. Claude Ave., New Orleans Healing Center
Tickets: $10, at door
Player Hating follows hip-hop artist Half-a-Mill and his Brooklyn, NY crew, the Godfia Criminals, as they struggle to escape poverty and violence through music in the Albany Housing Projects. In raw, uncensored form, Player Hating delves intimately into the lives of young “thugs,” and reveals the core of human poverty. “Player Hating brings audiences into a world they might otherwise ignore, or be too frightened to enter,” says Hadleigh-West. “People watch this film and they see and feel the incredible humanity that is at risk daily of being lost to violence.” Hadleigh-West traces Player Hating’s origins back to the senseless murder of a work colleague in Harlem, which instantaneously opened her eyes to the enormous disparity of “life” in America - particularly for those in impoverished neighborhoods.
During the 10 years it took her to make the film, Hadleigh-West faced formidable challenges, including being robbed at gunpoint, confronting her own race-based fears, and gaining the trust and affection of young men, most of whom had never had a white friend. To date, the film has won two awards, and been an official selection of numerous film festivals, including premiering at Sheffield Doc/Fest in England. Hadleigh-West is currently collaborating with national partner organizations to host screenings of the film around the country, and intends to parlay its message of anti-violence and the effects of extreme repetitive trauma into social action.
"Player Hating IS NOT just another hip hop movie. Maggie gained unprecedented access and insight into the reality of ‘thug life”, and I believe that this is going to be THE DOCUMENT of a time and place in American life." - Peter Spirer, Academy Award Nominated Filmmaker & CEO of Rugged Entertainment
“I can only describe the documentary as raw and extreme! Grittiness at its finest… for a white woman to be given such access to the hood means she has street credibility and not everybody has that.” – NYC Gossip Girl, Hip Hop Gossip Site
DVD’s Are Available Click Here to Order
For more information contact Film Fatale, Inc. at 718.230.0885.
Player Hating: A Love Story, follows Half-a-Mill and the Godfia Criminals from Crown Heights, Brooklyn, as they struggle to escape the violence in the Albany Housing Projects. This intimate, and even loving portrait of “thug life” and the music of Half-a-Mill is not to be missed.
This has been a work of passion, love and danger for Hadleigh-West. On day one of shooting, Hadleigh-West was robbed at gunpoint in the Brownsville Housing Projects. In another incident, Hadleigh-West broke into a well known NYC hospital to interview a young black man who’d been followed from Brooklyn, car jacked in Manhattan and was near death from five bullet wounds to his body. Despite the danger to herself and her film crew, she continued to shoot, developed enormous love and respect for the men she worked with, and prayed daily that they’d survive their environment.
Her intention with this film is to bring audiences into a world they might otherwise ignore, or be too frightened to enter, in an effort to share the incredible humanity that is at risk daily of being lost to violence in communities all over the US and world. For further information, or to interview Maggie Hadleigh-West, please call 718. 230.0885 or email maggie at maggie@yomaggie.com
Download Official Stills by Clicking on Image(s) Below
