- Coming up on One Detroit, we're gonna preview the lineup at the 11th annual Free Film Festival.

Plus we'll talk with the filmmaker of the festival's opening night documentary about River Rouge High School storied basketball program.

Also ahead, a preview of a festival documentary about the transformation of Detroit's riverfront.

(tranquil ambient music) Plus, we'll tell you how you can help Detroit Public Television tell Detroit's story.

And we'll have a roundup of things to do this weekend in metro Detroit.

That's all coming up next on One Detroit.

(upbeat ambient music) - From Delta Faucets to Behr Paint, Masco Corporation is proud to deliver products that enhance the way consumers all over the world, experience and enjoy their living spaces.

Masco, serving Michigan communities since 1929.

Support for this program is provided by the Cynthia & Edsel Ford Fund for Journalism at Detroit Public TV.

(upbeat ambient music) - The DTE Foundation is a proud sponsor of Detroit Public TV.

Among the state's largest foundations committed to Michigan focused giving, we support organizations that are doing exceptional work in our state.

Visit dtefoundation.com to learn more.

- [Narrator] Nissan Foundation, and viewers like you.

(upbeat ambient music) - Just ahead on One Detroit, a local filmmaker talks about his documentary focusing on the amazing basketball legacy at River Rouge High School.

Plus we'll have a preview of a new documentary that chronicles the development of Detroit's waterfront.

Also coming up, just in time for the NFL draft, we're sharing stories about what makes Detroit great.

And Dave Wagner of 90.9 WRCJ has some ideas on how you can spend the weekend and beyond.

But first up, the 11th annual Freep Film Festival takes place April 10th through the 14th at various venues here in Metro Detroit.

The lineup includes more than 20 feature length documentaries and dozens of short films, many of which have local connections.

I met up with the festival's artistic director and co-founder, Kathy Kieliszewski from the Detroit Free Press and local filmmaker, Razzy Jofrey at the Detroit Film Theater in the Detroit Institute of Arts, that is the site of the festival's opening night.

(upbeat ambient music) So let's talk about the Freep Film festival.

What should I go see this year?

- We're in our 11th year, right?

- Yeah.

- And you know, our theme has always been Michigan films or films that are relevant and resonate here in Michigan.

And every year I am surprised that there are that many important stories that are well produced that are worthy of a big screen like here at the Detroit Film Theater.

- Yeah.

- And so, you know, this year most of the films in the main lineup have some sort of Michigan connection, be it Opening Night with "Rouge", which is about the River Rouge High School basketball team, a film called "Relentless" that looks at the efforts by University of Michigan scientists back in the day to save the Great Lakes fishery, and particularly from the Sea Lamprey.

- Yeah.

- We've got one about the resurrection of the Detroit Riverfront.

So there's.

- I'm a little familiar with that.

- You're a little familiar (Stephen laughing) with that one.

So, yes, produced by DPTV.

- Yeah.

- And then, you know, things that have strong dotted lines back here, like the never too much, the Luther Vandross.

We know Luther has to come to Freep because we know he's got a strong fan base here.

- Yeah, yeah.

What about themes this year?

What are we looking at?

- Yeah, I'm really excited to partner with the Freep again this year to curate an Asian American set of films.

- Yeah.

- Looking at a spectrum of Asian American experiences from Asian American directors.

It's a second year we've done this program, and so we have some really amazing films, you know, both biographical, looking at the contributions in sports and art with Jeanette Lee verse as a ESPN documentary directed by Ursula Lang.

We also have the Nam June Paik boipic directed by Amanda Kim.

We also have an incredible short films program with the theme around labor.

- Uh-huh.

- Both labor that we perform in our work and vocations, but also the work that we do in our families to kind of keep things together.

- Yeah.

- So those are some of the films and some of the themes that we're looking at in the AAPI film series.

- Yeah.

And talk about why that part of the festival is important, that Asian American Pacific Islander kind of subgroup really.

- Yeah, it's incredibly important.

You know, we are very lucky in southeast Michigan.

- Yeah.

- We have a robust Asian American community.

- Growing one.

- And growing.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- Particularly, you know, in places like Canton and Troy and of course Hamtramck, you know, as well.

And I've myself, you know, being of Indian heritage, I've seen the community evolve and grow and become more dynamic and become more engaged in the political process and make contributions across different sectors.

And I think we wanna be able to reflect that on screen as well, and we want people to be able to see themselves and in the stories that we're trying to bring here to Detroit.

And we also wanna try to develop and grow the filmmaking community and to bring together Asian American filmmakers.

And we're very lucky through a generous support from the Ford Foundation, we're able to actually bring all the directors to Michigan and have connections with them and have them participate in the Q&As.

Not all of them can make it, so we will figure out other ways to incorporate the other filmmakers too.

- Yeah.

- But it's an incredible program and I'm glad that we're able to do it again for a second year.

- Yeah.

So I can remember of course, when this all started.

- Yeah.

- It was different in the first couple of years, and I feel like it was harder maybe to fill out the roster with locally produced films.

- Mm-hmm.

- And now, I mean, people are beating down your door it seems to get into the festival.

(Stephen laughing) - Sometimes.

- Yeah.

- Sometimes.

- So what's changed over that time in terms of filmmaking here, the filmmaking community here?

Do you feel like the festival has had an influence over how much is done?

How kind of big or robust the community is?

- I mean, I'd like to think that we have helped embolden the ecosystem to make films.

We've done a lot to bring filmmakers that were maybe previously from the region and have gone onto the coast to bring them back, to connect with local filmmakers, to continue to not only highlight that there's filmmaking being done here, but there is talent here that could be utilized for other projects.

We know the parachuting of journalists was a thing back, particularly during kinda the 2008 and the bankruptcy period.

And the similar thing with filmmakers kind of coming in and telling stories about us.

- About us, yeah.

- And so the thought was, no, we wanna be the authors of our own stories, but the visibility, the connections, I mean, getting funding and distribution, all of those things are really kind of targeted towards the filmmakers that are more visible on the coast.

- Yeah.

- And I think we've done a good job of saying, "No, there's great talent and filmmaking happening here."

And you'll see that, I mean, particularly we've got outside the AAPI series, we have three really amazing Schwartz programs that are chockfull of local filmmakers.

- Yeah.

- I do think that the festival has given a platform and has also provided support and networking opportunities that have allowed for more filmmaking to continue to happen.

And I do think from a festival of visibilities, I mean, 11 years is a long time in a festival.

- Yeah.

- Lifespan.

- And when we've had films like we have "Frida", the documentary about Frida (indistinct).

- Was gonna ask you about that.

It's one of my favorite films.

- It's so beautiful and so well done, that maybe in year one or two, I would never have gotten that film.

- Is that right?

- Yes.

That Amazon would have said, you know, "I'm not really sure that's worth us."

- Really?

- "Playing this small regional festival."

And obviously its connection here to this amazing institution and this museum.

- Yeah.

- And where.

- I mean, and that's gonna play here at the DFT.

- Yes.

- Which is attached to the museum.

- Right, and there'll be some tours, some free tours happening of the industry murals just prior to the screening to kinda tie it all together.

But that her time here in Detroit is really a part of that story.

And much of it is, well, all of it is really done in the voices of the people through their letters and diaries.

And it's such a personal look at her life and her experiences, in her artist's life, her life with Diego and her life both in Mexico and here in the States.

- Yeah, yeah.

So my favorite moment in the festival was the premiere of course, 12th and Claremont, which you worked on.

- Yes.

- And lots of people at the Freep Press.

Talk about other premieres that you've sort of clung to and thought were really great.

- That was pretty magical.

- Yeah.

- You know, the community's response to that film.

We've had some amazing premieres.

I mean, you know, the Russian five, the story of Cream Magazine, you know, last year's "Cold Water Kitchen", which is another Free Press film.

- Uh-huh.

- You know, it's really hard to fill an 1100 seat theater on a Wednesday night (Stephen laughing) for a documentary.

- Right.

And Freep Press, I think it's, you know, we've picked films that we think really resonate with audiences.

I mean, Rouge is selling really well, but, so please, if you haven't (everyone laughing) gotten your tickets yet, - It's like, go get 'em.

- Please go get your tickets.

We've been really fortunate that there's been so many films that are of really high quality, that are great Michigan stories.

- Yeah, yeah.

- Everybody, you would think.

- The Freep Film festivals opening night documentary titled "Rouge" tells the story of River Rouge High School's amazing basketball legacy.

The school holds the most state championships in Michigan history.

One Detroit's Billbo spoke with the documentary's director, am Hamoody Jafaar about how his own love for basketball led him to the incredible story of the River Rouge High School Panthers.

(upbeat ambient music) - The opening night film at the 2024 Freep Film Festival, (tranquil ambient music) a documentary about a basketball program with a winning history that goes back 70 years.

The film, it's called "Rouge", as in River Rouge, a small town next to that big city of Detroit.

- There's 14 state championships on that wall.

That's what we play for.

(basketball bouncing) - This a fast break drill, this ain't a slow break drill.

- Rouge directed by local filmmaker Hamoody Jafaar.

- Yeah.

- How did you come across the story?

- I grew up in the down river area, and when I was growing up in the 90s, you know, I'm a child of immigrants, basketball was like, it was really a gateway for me, like to gain acceptance and friendships, and it taught me a lot as a young person.

(upbeat ambient music) And during that time, River Rouge High School was, in the late 90s, was the best basketball program around.

And I was, I looked up to Brent Darby, who was their best player at the time.

- [Announcer] Brent Darby, we said, is unstoppable with the ball.

- Brent Darby in the back of Jafaar's mind when in 2019 he was working on a short film hoping to profile Ypsilanti High School sensation, Imani Bates, who made the cover of Sports Illustrated.

- And we went to go film Imani Bates and we were denied access to his locker room that night.

And by default ended up in his opponent's locker room who was happened to be River Rouge.

In that moment, I realized that the late Brent Darby that I had looked up to when I was a kid, that his son was there in that locker room that night, which I didn't know, I didn't even know Brent had a son, to be honest.

- When he died, I was just thinking like, "Let me do something like that's gonna make him proud or something like that."

- I realized in that moment he was playing for his dad's coach, you know, he was kind of like discovered this father-son legacy story essentially.

And they went out and won that night and they beat Imani Bates and Ypsilanti Lincoln.

So at that point, I just was hooked, you know, I felt like whatever led me there, led me there and then I was just consumed.

(upbeat ambient music) - River Rouge, the winner.

- With Jafaar's dive into Rouge basketball came the discovery of the school's storied past.

- I grew up in the 60s.

If you like basketball, you knew three things, Boston Celtics, UCLA, and River Rouge, 'cause they were all the best.

- It's the gold standard of high school basketball in America.

It is the winningest program in the state of Michigan's history.

- You know, I fell down a rabbit hole of research, and discovered like the loft and green years of the late 40s, 50s, 60s, and early 90s.

(upbeat ambient music) - The bottom line is who won championships?

And nobody has done it like River Rouge has done it.

- And you realize it was this during segregated times, it was this integrative high school and they had accomplished when no other high school had ever accomplished on the hardwoods.

(upbeat ambient music) - Sometimes they say records are meant to be broken, that will never be broken.

(crowd cheering) - River Rouge was like one square mile and that's where all of the players came from.

So you know, one of the guys, Bill Kilgore, we interviewed him in the film and one of the lines he said was, "In River Rouge, when you're born in River Rouge, you're born with a basketball in your hands.

And if you're not born with it in your hands, eventually it lands in your hands, you know, by the age of two or three."

- A warrior, a champion, a Rouge Panther, he gonna live on every single game.

- (indistinct) - Rouge basketball history and more revealed within those walls just across from the high school, an old arena that seemed stuck in time.

For this film, a backdrop for decades of past athletes to share their memories.

- Which one we miss?

- My year, '72.

- Oh, '72.

Oh, what happened to that?

- I don't know.

- [Speaker] Must have fell off.

- It was a typical track town.

It was divided by the railroad tracks.

- Come downtown route, you would see white folks, otherwise in your neighborhood growing up, we had no white folks on that side of town.

(tranquil ambient music) - Well, there's also a building there, the place that they used to play basketball that's really kind of this other character in your film.

Talk about The Buck.

- The Buck gymnasium, it's such a, symbolically, it's such a beautiful representation of the entire story for all kinds of reasons.

(upbeat ambient music) - He would take the best five from each school, so that would be 20, starting in eighth grade, 10 white boys, 10 black boys.

- In 1958 when it opened, I mean, there was no other gymnasium like it.

And it was basically something that you'd see out of like colleges or universities, but they had it on the high school level because of the success they were having obviously in the late 40s into the early 50s.

(upbeat ambient music) - We were the first in the state to win the state championship as an all black school.

- All blacks, starting five you mean.

- Starting five, right.

Because Paul was one, but he was still the same color.

(both laughing) - And one of the first things that had to be cut from an overhead perspective was The Buck because of, you know, how much it costs to maintain.

(people cheering) - [Announcer Two] The rise the fall, and then there's the program today, the River Rouge Panthers winning again.

In Rouge we meet not just the players, but the support staff too.

- I'm in awe of the humanity of it.

I love every scene that the team managers squeak and CJ are in.

♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ - It offers an extension of how beautiful everyone's soul is within that community.

And those two are such a beautiful representation of that 'cause they're so loved and adored by everyone and you feel that every time you see them and feel them interacting with student athletes or the coaches or the parents.

- [Stephen] Then there's Coach LaMonte Stone.

- As a coach, I was gonna get this thing back to the state championship level.

(TV buzzing) - Six eight junior coached by LaMonte Stone.

- Team is extremely strong and they may be the best team in the state, and the Rivers Panthers have their work cut out for them.

As you see that guy right there, LaMonte Stone in his third year, who has done wonders with this River Rouge program.

- No, LaMonte is such a beautiful representation because he was a former student athlete that played for Coach Green.

(upbeat ambient music) - LaMonte Stone.

- That went on to become the program's coach in the 90s and reinstilled the glory essentially.

And then he went on to coach in college for 15 plus years, you know, after they won back-to-back State Championships in the late 90s, he also advanced in his coaching career.

And that was a big reason why the story made so much sense.

- You're called student athletes, not athletes, students, student athletes, the word student come before the athlete.

- When I connected those dots and realized that Coach Stone was back coaching at his alma mater, coaching Brent Darby's son, who was his best player.

I mean, you can't, I couldn't have scripted that.

- [Stephen] Stone leads the team on the way to another state championship, playoff is about to start, it's March, 2020.

Remember what happened then?

An outcome no one could have predicted, but well documented here.

- I think what's so unique about the present day story is it's an extension of a lot of different challenges that communities of color face, especially locally, Inkster High School being one of 'em, like neighboring communities that lost their high schools.

And River Rouge, there's a story about how they were ordered to have their doors shut down and they were on the list of schools to be shut down, they were with Inkster.

They had to reinvent themselves, you know, to even be able to survive, they obviously became an open enrollment school, but then they extended their bus routes out an hour just to be able to bring kids into the school district that needed school, but then obviously to increase their own student enrollment.

So to me it's a beautiful representation of, you know, how River Rouge always rises.

It's such a resilient place, you can't keep it down, you know, and I think that's obviously a beautiful representation of that.

- [Stephen] Another locally themed documentary that's playing at the Free Film Festival on April 13th and 14th is titled "Ignore the Noise: Transformation of the Detroit Riverfront".

The film shows how the city's waterfront was transformed from a blighted wasteland into a national award-winning river walk.

The story is told through the voices of the people who played a major role in the transformation (upbeat ambient music) over the last two decades.

The documentary is a collaboration between Detroit Public Television and Free Age Films.

Here's a preview.

(upbeat ambient music) - There are a million ways this project could have gotten killed.

It didn't have to happen this way, and it is uncommon for a community to be able to pull something like this off.

- The riverfront was desolate, (siren blaring) it was abandoned, it was in total disrepair.

- Tall piles of cement, burned out buildings, abandoned cars eroding shoreline.

It was not a place where anyone would have any reason for visiting.

- I grew up in Detroit and I didn't know we had a riverfront.

Unless you went to Bell Isle, you never saw it.

(upbeat ambient music) ♪ This is Detroit ♪ ♪ I like to live in this town ♪ ♪ My neighbors are people who care ♪ - [Female Speaker] You had the cement silos there, you had aggregate everywhere, it was pretty bad.

♪ Detroit ♪ ♪ Detroit my home ♪ - It was just real industrial when I started working at the riverfront.

At the time, it was kind of like, "Are we really gonna make this a beautiful riverfront?"

I just couldn't see it, it was just so much work that had to be done.

(upbeat ambient music) - [Stephen] Detroit.

It literally means strait or river.

So when we talk about our waterfront, the words are as important as the thing itself.

The water that flows past our city is our city, and it shapes so much of who we are.

You can also see "Ignore The Noise" here on Detroit Public Television on Monday, April 29th at 9:00 PM.

Now let's turn to events happening this weekend and beyond in Metro Detroit, there's a great mix of activities available, including arts exhibits, theater productions, concerts, and shopping.

Here's Dave Wagner of 90.9 WRCJ with today's One Detroit Weekend.

- Hi, I'm Dave Wagner with 90.9 WRCJ, ready to fill your calendar for the upcoming weekend.

You know, on Friday you can spend an evening with the great jazz master and three time Grammy Award-winning saxophones, Branford Marsalis.

He'll be at Orchestra Hall performing with his quartet, which includes Joey Calderazzo on piano, Eric Revis on bass, and Justin Faulkner on drums.

Now Saturday, head to the Fisher Theater to see Celtic Woman perform in their 20th anniversary tour.

They're gonna showcase harmonious traditional Irish music with a contemporary flare.

Then on April 6th, 12th, and 14th, the Detroit Opera House presents "Breaking The Waves".

It's a brand new production focused around a wife whose husband suffers a paralyzing accident.

The audience will watch as the wife contemplates just what she will do for love.

Sunday marks the 10th year celebration of all things Detroit Day in Eastern Market.

From 10:00 AM until 5:00 PM, you can go and peruse over 200 local small businesses represented in sheds three, four, and five, and you're going to find crafts, food, drinks, and so much more.

Also, don't miss Detroit Repertory Theater's presentation of "Annabella" in July.

This play follows a couple who takes a trip on their 20th wedding anniversary and the events that take place once they enter a ski lodge in July shake things up in their relationship.

Get ready for some laughs in this fast-paced comedy.

Of course, (upbeat ambient music) we have so many more events to take part in, so let's check out a few more.

Have a fantastic weekend.

- [Stephen] And finally today, Detroit Public Television is pleased to kick off an initiative called "Truly Detroit", as we prepare to welcome the NFL draft to the city, we wanna shine a spotlight on the people, places, and things that make our city and region truly unique.

Take a look.

(upbeat ambient music) - [Narrator Two] The NFL Draft is coming and you can help tell the world what is truly Detroit.

(upbeat ambient music) Join DPTV as we tell the story of the greatest city in America, while the NFL spotlight shines on our region.

Tell us what's your truly Detroit, like your favorite Detroit pizza, favorite hangout, or favorite Detroit performer?

(people cheering) Then check out our special Truly Detroit archive.

Here we have dozens of great stories to share from all of your DPTV favorites.

Help Detroit Public TV tell our story to the world as we share what is truly Detroit.

- [Narrator] This program is made possible in part by Timothy Bogart, comprehensive planning strategies.

(upbeat ambient music) From Delta Faucets to Behr Paint, Masco Corporation is proud to deliver products that enhance the way consumers all over the world experience and enjoy their living spaces.

Masco, serving Michigan communities since 1929.

Support for this program is provided by the Cynthia & Edsel Ford Fund for Journalism at Detroit Public TV.

(upbeat ambient music) - The DTE Foundation is a proud sponsor of Detroit Public TV.

Among the state's largest foundations committed to Michigan focused giving.

We support organizations that are doing exceptional work in our state.

Visit dtefoundation.com to learn more.

- [Narrator] Nissan Foundation, and viewers like you.

(upbeat ambient music)