Gerald Wright's Movie Coverage      

Tribeca Film Festival- April 25th-May 6th   

THE HIP HOP PROJECT

Directed by: Matt Ruskin
Run time: 90 mins.
Release date: May 11, 2007
Genre: Documentary
Distributor: THINKFilm
MPAA Rating: R

This is a story of a group of New York City teenagers who had fallen into the crime, drug, pregnancy and the will to further their education, but found a vehicle to channel their life to positive means through hip hop music. The film traces the evolution and personal discovery of the programs' creator Chris "Kazi" Rolle, a formerly homeless teenager turned youth mentor. With the goal of developing a principal group of young artists, Kazi creates a safe environment in which he challenges young people to express themselves freely and write music about real issues affecting their lives.

The story may sound quite familiar, but this riveting documentary looks the lives of Kazi and his two students, Princess and Cannon, as they strive to overcome obstacles to produce a collaborative album, while the tracing Kazi's personal story from the streets of the Bahamas as an abandoned child to his life as a teenager on the Brooklyn streets. Then re-uniting him with his estranged mother living in New York City. In this film the hip hop mogul Russell Simmons and long time supporter of the non-profit project partners with Bruce Willis and Queen Latifah to produce the inner city project to complete the student made album. This film produces a powerful and thought provoking commentary illustrating a postive image on a often negative hip hop and rap industry.

Gerald Wright is a film critic for Rotten Tomatoes.com and has also served as a film festival judge.

More of his work can be found at the following website:
www.FilmShowcase.Blogspot.com