Dear Philadelphia
2021 · 28m · USA
Directed by Renee Maria Osubu
Genres: documentary
Tones: contemplative, tender
Three fathers in North Philadelphia reflect on the inseparable relationship between forgiveness and community, drawing on family, faith, and collective memory.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Osubu works in the tradition of the great American social documentary, but her gaze is entirely affirmative — this is a film about what community makes possible, not what it lacks.
Sundance, BlackStar Staff Pick, BAFTA/Oscar qualified — three Black fathers and forgiveness, with painterly stillness as the visual ethic. The pedigree is earned.
Sundance 2021, BlackStar Staff Pick winner, Oscar-qualified — Osubu's photographic eye treating three North Philadelphia fathers with monument-stillness. Twenty-eight minutes; the dignity is in the duration.
Reviews
For its display of active love, in the form of three fathers who strive to better their communities in North Philadelphia, the winner of the 2nd annual Vimeo Staff Pick Award goes to Renee Osubu's 'Dear Philadelphia.'
Festivals
- Sundance Film Festival 2021
- BlackStar Film Festival 2021, Jury Award: Best Short Documentary; Vimeo Staff Pick Award