Slamdance Film Festival 2020 – Higher Love
Daryl Gantt is a struggling blue-collar factory man striving to be a better father than his own, who abandoned him at childhood. Daily, he searches the streets of his hometown Camden, NJ for his pregnant heroin-addicted girlfriend Nani.
Nani struggles with the prospect of impending motherhood and with the guilt of having to raise a child that could have severe issues because of her drug use, or worse be raised without a mother at all.
Adjacent this young family is Iman, a local drug kingpin who caught a dealer’s habit, and trying to right the wrongs in his past to be a better father himself.
The worlds collide as separate paths to recovery get in the way of the new baby's future.
Interview with Writer/Director/Producer Hasan Oswald
Watch Higher Love on Prime Video, Vimeo on demand and iTunes
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Like many documentaries, this film became very different than its original intention. At its root, I wanted to make a project that looked at where the American Dream failed, and why mid-sized post-industrial cities across the country most often retain the highest levels of poverty, crime and drug addiction.
On a deeper level of why I wanted to make this film:
Our working title for Higher Love was "Below the Brine,” after a Walt Whitman poem. Whitman, a Camden, NJ native, wrote about an entire world that lives below the surface of the ocean, right in our midst, but completely out of sight. I've always had a fascination with telling seemingly inane or abstract stories, combined with a dark curiosity I have with forgotten American cities like Camden, NJ. Without sit-down interviews or policy wonks, I wanted to show the human side of the opioid epidemic by using an unpolished and at times clumsy form of vérité film, hoping to present a brief glimpse of what might otherwise remain below the surface.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
On a superficial level, viewers will appreciate how this film was made in the first place. I couldn't afford film school and taught myself everything about editing and cameras on youtube. When nobody would hire me, I set out to make this film with no team and no budget, knocking on doors in one of America's most dangerous cities. So it truly is a "rebel without a crew" Robert Rodriguez type story of how I made this film, including selling my blood plasma, maxing out credit cards and taking advantage of generous return policies on gear.
Diving a bit deeper, I don't think most people have seen a film that gives such intimate access to the human side of addiction. The relationships I built and the access that they granted me allowed for a profoundly personal focus on raw character work, producing scenes that appear to be almost narrative in nature.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Daryl's struggle to save Nani (and then his son) speaks to the themes of love, family and African American fatherhood. But from a broader standpoint, his obstacles and challenges are all symptoms of a deeply-rooted and systemic societal neglect within these forgotten American cities such as Camden, NJ.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
At early private screenings our viewers have consistently pointed out how on paper, this could have been another addiction-themed poverty porn flick. But that it wasn't at all.
And to be honest, due to the sensitivity of the topic and graphic nature of heroin addiction, it was very difficult to avoid this “poverty porn” trope.
But I think that this was solved in the editing room, where we had a strict policy to validate and redeem our subjects first and worry about continuity after. The ethics of making an addiction film are complicated and it was important for me to be faithful to our character’s lives and personalities. And while accurately portraying the pace and substance of an addiction lifestyle makes that challenging, when those moments of tenderness and hope do shine through they are deeply effective and gratifying.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
It wasn't surprising at all because I knew that if the viewer gave it just a few minutes, they would immediately recognize that this film shouldn't be thrown on the "poverty-porn" heap.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I hope to gain visibility for a vast segment.
Collaborating with filmmakers, companies, organizations, schools, universities and angel donors we work with filmmakers whose films we've published on our platform. You can enjoy a film with your family and friends in the comfort of your living room – or on your smartphone. You will also be financially supporting independent filmmakers who have created these unique films to support influential new conversations.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
We are always looking to bring on members who appreciate the unique, gorilla style in which this film was made as well as the human message behind it. Right now that would include film festival directors, journalists and buyers.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
We aim:
To give a dignified voice to people living with addiction in post-industrial communities.
To support advocacy for the 1-in-8 children across America born to homes with substance abuse.
To invite viewers to respond on a human level and encourage them to be agents of change for the disease of addiction regardless of socio-economic background.
Camden, NJ is not alone as a post-industrial community mired in America’s opioid epidemic. Communities like these are vulnerable to substance abuse and particularly prone to the abuse of opiates and heroin.
Princeton Economist Angus Deaton aptly calls overdose deaths in these communities as “Deaths of Despair”, indicating systemic joblessness, lack of opportunity, and exploitative targeting from the pharmaceutical industry to these pockets of the nation. This film is not based on politics or policy. It is interested only in the human experience. And it is for this reason we are teaming up with community-based educational and domestic programs to support families and parents raising a new generation of children directly affected by the opioid crisis.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
To film school or not to film school? And then...The ethics of filming a documentary about addiction, featuring those struggling with addiction, is something that really gets people riled up.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
In the wake of ISIS’s genocidal campaign through Northern Iraq in 2014, over 10,000 Yazidi men, women and children were killed or enslaved. Five years later, more than 2,500 still remain missing. I'm currently in Iraq, directing a film that follows an underground rescue network that is trying to bring them home.
Interview: January 2020
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
Higher Love
Daryl Gantt is a struggling blue-collar factory man striving to be a better father than his own, who abandoned him at childhood. Daily, he searches the streets of his hometown Camden, NJ for his pregnant heroin-addicted girlfriend Nani.
Nani struggles with the prospect of impending motherhood and with the guilt of having to raise a child that could have severe issues because of her drug use, or worse be raised without a mother at all.
Adjacent this young family is Iman, a local drug kingpin who caught a dealers habit, and trying to right the wrongs in his past to be a better father himself.
The worlds collide as separate paths to recovery get in the way of the new baby's future.
Length: 1:17:56
Director: Hasan Oswald
Producer: Hasan Oswald
Writer: Hasan Oswald
About the writer, director and producer:
Entering the film world only four years ago, HASAN OSWALD has quickly established a unique ability to capture the human experience through verité cinema. His unfettered access and intimacy with his characters create a seamless veneer between the filmmaker and subject that is deeply felt and personal. His work caught the eye of award-winning filmmakers Nick Quested & Sebastian Junger (Restrepo) and started his career as a cameraman for National Geographic’s film Hell on Earth: The Fall of Syria and the Rise of ISIS. He has since covered the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, drug trafficking and homelessness in Philadelphia, and the international diaspora of conflict refugees. His current project follows the story of the Yazidi genocide in Northern Iraq.
Key cast: Daryl Gantt, Darnez Gantt, Danitza Rodriguez, Iman Fisher
Looking for: distributors, buyers, film festival directors, journalists
Facebook: Higher Love
Twitter: @HigherLoveFilm
Hashtags used: #higherlovefilm #nofilmschool #slamdance
Website: www.higherlovefilm.com
Other: IMDb
Made in association with: LoveWorld Media, Rhino Films
Funders: Self-funded
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Slamdance Film Festival