A big hit at this year’s Slamdance winning the Grand Jury Award, Welcome to Pine Hill follows the meditative journey of a young man as he comes to terms with a life-changing diagnosis. In his new life, the man (played with nuance and power by Shannon Harper) reconciles with friends, family, and associates, all while never revealing his fate. He addresses his predicament by escaping the hard streets of the city for the quiet refuge of upstate New York. Made in collaboration with the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective and IFP’s Independent Filmmaker Lab, this “atmospheric rendering of a New Yorker’s journey of self-discovery” (The Hollywood Reporter) is Miller’s debut feature.

This heartbreaking and honest tale subtly explores the themes of race and class in a provocative way, humanizing a character all too often caricaturized by media. Harper, a 6’4 African-American, tries to fade into his surroundings, but his powerful yet gentle and subdued presence is just too hard to ignore. Relying on a cast of mostly non-professional actors and utilizing arresting visual imagery, Welcome to Pine Hill invites us on the multi-layered and richly intimate journey of a man coming to terms with his fate.

After a chance encounter with Harper over a lost puppy, filmmaker Keith Miller was inspired to direct short Prince/William, which screened in Rooftop’s 2010 festival. The short serves as the opening of the feature, starring Harper and Miller as themselves in true cinema verite style. Now, Rooftop Films is proud to screen Welcome to Pine Hill in Fort Greene, a neighborhood that fosters open discussion about the issues of gentrification and race addressed in the film, sure to make for a fascinating and entertaining evening.

- Alece Oxendine