The Broward Film Project is the documentation of the past, present and future of black communities in Broward County. The first series of this film project is named “Danie and Liberia: A Tale of Sibling Communities.”
The masterminds behind this project are: Emmanuel George, director, executive producer and writer. Premimathieu Sterlin, assistant director, cinematographer, editor, musical producer and graphic designer. Ian Mann, assistant director, cinematographer, editor, writer and assistant musical producer. Ian Mann stated “Emmanuel and I had a mutual connection through the community activist group the Roots Collective. I attended one of the first meetings in a local church and we’ve been grinding since.”
The intention of this film project is to bring awareness to all the changes occurring in Emmanuel’s backyard, especially pertaining to the gentrification. His goal is to inform the people of the black history within Broward County before it’s completely forgotten. By bringing this history into the light, Emmanuel hopes that those who reside here will invest and take pride in their community.
Many discoveries were made in process of making this first series, “Danie and Liberia: A Tale of Sibling Communities.” One of the hidden gems was the infamous but undocumented existence of the infrastructure “The Paradise Club.” This club was located in Liberia and was frequented by musicians such as Aretha Franklin, James Brown, and Nina Simone. Another discovery made, Dania had a black owned cinema before integration occurred in South Florida. In addition, there was a Negro Baseball League and the local team was called the “Dania Red Birds”.
Emmanuel was inspired by Dr. Marvin Dunn, historian and author. The documentary created by Dr. Marvin Dunn, “Black Miami” sparked life into Emmanuel’s creation of the “Black Broward Film Project”. The concept of the “Black Broward Film Project” was discussed with David Nuby, pioneer, elder community advocate, who resides in Dania. According to Emmanuel, Mr. Nuby was able to connect him with many of the elders in the community to discuss their first hand experience of how things truly were back then.
When Permimathieu Sterlin was asked what inspired him to work on this project, he stated, “I always repped my neighborhood, but I knew nothing about it. I learned a lot in school but nothing pertaining to our local black history. I believe if the kids in this neighborhood knew what I know about our local history, they wouldn’t kill each other for their blocks, or steal from one another. I want this film to inform the youth and elders what this neighborhood was, is now, and what it can turn to, if we continue the same way we are heading.”
