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This film focuses on the life of a Detroit high-school senior, Bílal, and his family’s long-owned taxi stand. “The Stand,” as they call it, has been the source of all activity and income for the family for the last sixty years, and it seems as though Bílal is about to carry the torch. However, after secretly submitting a college application and taking up ice carving in order to win a scholarship, he is forced to decide whether he will continue working at The Stand–the only life he’s ever known–or take a step toward social mobility. The film is based on a true story and deals with issues of education, religion, community values, and social prosperity.

Screening followed by a Q&A session with filmmaker and reception.

http://www.bilalsstand.com

About the Artists

Sultan Sharrief

Sultan Sharrief on his background and Sundance project, “Bilal’s Stand”

My name is Sultan Sharrief. I am 25 and proudly call Detroit Michigan home. I am the seventh of nine kids and was born and raised Sunni Muslim. My life has been a constant stream of eclectic experiences and it seems Sundance is another marker on the journey. I stumbled into filmmaking after a lifetime of dreaming of becoming a zoologist. While at the University of Michigan, I switched my major to Sociology in the hopes of serving more people. Then, after realizing that most of the world’s problems stem from issues of perception, I switched my major to film. It’s been no doubling back ever since.

The concept for “Bilal’s Stand” came in a moment. I was on set for a feature I produced. The scene’s tagline reads: “Ext. Slums night—Chase picks up prostitute.” We pull up to the most beautifully grotesque building we could find in Detroit (and that’s saying a lot) and I was shocked to see little kids playing in bathing suits in front of a fire hydrant. It was so ridiculously cliché that it floored me. I had only ever seen that in Spike Lee films. I then thought of all the films that had represented Detroit as this dangerous war-zone and how much I always hated it. And even though I didn’t write the script, I was perpetuating the same stereotypes. I wondered when someone would tell the story of one of those kids. Then I said, “Wait, I used to be one of those kids”. It wasn’t a fire hydrant, it was a water hose (from the mean neighbor’s house) but the reality was the same. So I decided to just tell my story.

We wanted to make the film as accurate as possible. So I started a youth program in which metro Detroit high school students partner with University students. They learn about filmmaking and other professional skills. We work-shopped the script I had written and the students all offered input. We then mobilized the students to mobilize the metro-Detroit community. We worked with over 500 hundred community volunteers, media outlets, local business, and community organizations. People donated food, time, services, locations, and even a casket (unused). The film took four years to complete before we finally submitted to Sundance.

The biggest challenge was refusing to give up even when, or rather especially when, it seemed like the most rational thing to do. People said we were crazy to take on such a big endeavor. Whether it was out of love, lack of faith, or perhaps even spite, people told us to compromise at every step of the process. “You don’t shoot 16mm feature films with no money”. Or they would say, “Movies aren’t supposed to take 2 years” (then 3, then 4). And sometimes I wanted to believe them. It’s easier to say a dream was stupid, than to admit you’re giving up on it. Luckily, at the end of the day, I would always push on. If my dreams were going to die, we were going down swinging.

I think “Bilal’s Stand” has heart. I think it allows people into a world they can’t normally access. It also redefines the way in which that world is portrayed. With quirky animation, insightful narration, and real performances by real people, the film doesn’t try to fake it, we just tell it like it is.

http://www.indiewire.com/article/sundance_10_sultan_sharrief_takes_a_stand/