With flicks coming in from every corner of the globe for the Film Festival, you know our fair city had to get her hands up in the mix. This year's locally connected offerings include an array of genres, diverse around-the-corner talent and just enough ghetto to make us look all badass.
Philadelphia is to Streets what NYC is to Sex and the City, plus a whole lot more black people. Shot in every nook and cranny of Philly, local director Jamal Hill's tough-love drama follows a teenage girl (played by native Nafeesa Williams) who gets tangled in scary, gang-driven shenanigans when she moves into town. Other Philadelphians in the impressive cast include Marvin Warner and up-and-coming hip-hop star Meek Mill. SEPTA and the Ben Franklin Bridge make commendable cameos, too.
Philly-born Valerie Weiss directed Losing Control, a quirky rom-com starring Miranda Kent (pictured) as a cute but neurotic science geek who's struggling through her Ph.D. program. Knocking on 30's door, she begins to doubt her life's direction when her final experiment (on a protein that kills sperm) goes awry. So she breaks up with her boyfriend and embarks on a quest to find a few "Mr. Rights for tonight." But when she decides to run back to her ex, he's locking lips with another chick. Fail.
The 215's repped on all sides of the camera in Race to the Bottom of the Earth, an adventure doc directed by locals Nancy Glass and Michele Loschiavo. It follows Philly explorer Todd Carmichael (who's also CEO and co-founder of La Colombe) as he attempts to be the first American to make a solo trek to the South Pole — all while wearing a Flyers beanie. Ninety-five percent of the footage comes from video diaries Carmichael shot along the way — capturing everything from broken skis and frostbitten toes to the delirium that overtakes him as he creeps toward the finish line. The rest of the film is composed of interviews with his wife, who's holding it down in Philly wondering what the hell she got herself into.
