Rashaad Ernesto Green, who wrote and is directing the film “Gun Hill Road” as part of his senior thesis for NYU’s Graduate Film Program, is quite familiar with the neighborhoods that encompass the street his film is named after.
His parents first met in a McDonald’s on East Gun Hill Road near Boston Road. He says the rest of his family remains entrenched near and along the heavily-trafficked thoroughfare as well as other Bronx neighborhoods. According to the film’s producer, Michelle-Anne Small, Green spent every weekend during filming in the Bronx visiting family and friends.
“Gun Hill Road,” which stars Bronx Walk of Famers Judy Reyes (“Scrubs,” “OZ”) and Esai Morales (“Bad Boys,” “La Bamba”), tells the fictional story of a Puerto Rican family whose patriarch, Enrique Rodriguez, returns from three years in prison and attempts to reestablish his role as a father and husband.
But when Enrique discovers that his son is transgendered and that his wife has found a new lover, Enrique struggles to adjust.
The story, although fictional, is a product of Green’s many years spent growing up in the Bronx as well as a stretch spent teaching in the South Bronx.
Small said Green was able to land Judy Reyes and Esai Morales through the film’s casting agent, who happened to be a “friend of a friend” to both actors. Once the actors had read the script, both were on board and excited to begin.
“Gun Hill Road” is not Green’s first film to be based in a Bronx neighborhood. His 2008 film, “Premature” — a story about a streetwise Bronx teenager who receives no support from her community when she becomes pregnant — won the Grand Prize in the HBO Short Film Competition at the American Black Film Festival. Green’s other short, “Cuts,” can currently be viewed on HBO.
The film, which was shot entirely in the Bronx, recently finished up filming and is currently in post-production. No release date has been announced.