Private Project

An American Street Mural In Harlem

Format/Genre: Documentary Short

Runtime: 38:42 mins

Logline: Despite many odds at the height of the pandemic, Harlem women bring hope to a disenfranchised historically Black community.

Synopsis: Against the backdrop of health disparities and systemic injustice during the COVID-19 pandemic, Harlem-based women rally a historically Black community to come together and create a contemporary Black Lives Matter street mural and public exhibition that no longer exists. Winner of the New York International Film Award for Best Documentary Short, the art-film spotlights how the pride, hope, and resilience of a group of Black female organizers led by Harlem Park to Park’s executive director, Nikoa Evans, is put to the test. As BLM protests intensify and looming odds drive a wedge in the hearts and minds of a divided pandemic Trump-era America, Nikoa assembles a team of women, community leaders, activists, volunteers and eight of Harlem’s most prolific Black artists to come together and launch what has become one of the country’s pre-imminent street murals. Determined to move past all the odds and obstacles thrown her way, Nikoa along with event producers Erika Ewing and Valerie Wilson must empower a cast of movers and shakers that drive the contemporary progression of “African-American Excellence”. Together, they all learn lessons about themselves and the ways they must move beyond their normal so they can show up for their community and the one mural that wasn’t commissioned by the city.

Starring: Al Sharpton, Letitia James, Bevy Smith, Nikoa Evans, Gale A Brewer, Adriano Espaillat, Inez Dickens, Al Taylor, Bill Perkins, Hazel Dukes, Ivo Philbert, Tren’ness Woods-Black, Valerie Wilson, Erica Ewing, Lerone Wilson, Jason Wallace, Omo Misha, Guy Stanley Philoche, Lesny JN Felix, Thomas Heath, Dianne Smith, Joyous Pierce, Vy Higgenson, and the Sing Harlem Choir.

Comparables: Stockton On My Mind, Baltimore Rising, I Am Not Your Negro.

  • Ano Okera
    Director & Writer
    30 Rock (2009); An American Street Mural In Harlem (2021); For Little Girls Who Are Afraid To Speak (2022); The Breeding (2018)
  • Charles Hayes IV
    Executive Producers
    The Roxchild, Clockwork (2017); Three. (2022); Amira & Sam (2014)
  • Ano Okera
    Executive Producers
    30 Rock (2009); For Little Girls Who Are Afraid To Speak (2022); The Breeding (2018)
  • Nikoa Evans
    Executive Producers
    For Little Girls Who Are Afraid To Speak (2022)
  • Alon Sicherman
    Cinematograher
    La Madrina: The Savage Life of Lorine Padilla (2020); Crime + Punishment (2018); Time (I) (2020); The Apollo (2019)
  • Sekou Luke
    Cinematograher
    Black Harlem Parade (2020), Merlina (2021)
  • Mark Claudio
    Cinematograher
    Black Harlem Parade (2020),
  • Kevin Queiroz
    Editor
  • Al Sharpton
    Key Cast
    "Self"
    Mr. Deeds (2002), Malcolm X (1992), Madea Goes to Jail (2009), Boston Legal (2004)
  • Letitia James
    Key Cast
    "Self"
    A Castle in Brooklyn, King Arthur, The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (2017), Siempre, Luis (2020), Anderson Cooper 360° (2019)
  • Brian Benjamin II
    Key Cast
    "Self"
    Untraceable (2008), Fox and Friends (2014-2017), Tucker Carlson Tonight (2019), Hannity (2014)
  • Gale A Brewer
    Key Cast
    "Self"
    #NYWomxn Story Hour (2020), Broadway & Beyond for Brewer (2021), Council 51 (2001)
  • Adriano Espaillat
    Key Cast
    "Self"
    MSNBC Live (2019), The Situation Room (2017), CNN Newsroom (2019), At This Hour (2019-2020)
  • Bevy Smith
    Key Cast
    "Self"
    Date.Love.Repeat. (2018), Leave Your Mark (2019), Pharrell Williams: Happy (2013), Being Mary Jane (2015)
  • Hazel Dukes
    Key Cast
    "Self"
    Finish Line: The Rise and Demise of Off-Track Betting (2016)
  • Nikoa Evans
    Key Cast
    "Self "
    For Little Girls Who Are Afraid To Speak (2022)
  • Valerie Wilson
    Key Cast
    "Self "
  • Erica Ewing
    Key Cast
    "Self"
  • LeRone Wilson
    Key Cast
    "Self"
  • Guy Stanley Philoche
    Key Cast
    "Self"
    Lula & Miguel (2021)
  • Dianne Smith
    Key Cast
    "Self"
  • Jason Wallace
    Key Cast
    "Self"
  • Thomas Wallace
    Key Cast
    "Self"
  • Lesny JN Felix
    Key Cast
    "Self"
  • Omo Misha
    Key Cast
    "Self"
  • Joyous Pierce
    Key Cast
    "Self"
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Runtime:
    38 minutes 45 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    April 1, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    52,397 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    21:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • New York International Film Awards
    New York, NY
    United States
    July 6, 2022
    Producers Club
    Best Documentary Short Winner & Best First Director Finalist
  • Harlem International Film Festival
    New York, NY
    United States
    May 5, 2022
    World Premiere
    Official Selection
Distribution Information
  • Film Hub
    Distributor
    Country: United States
    Rights: Internet, Video on Demand
Director Biography

Ano Okera is a performer turned scriptwriter, director, producer, and co-founder of New Kingston Media— a London and Harlem-based global film/media production collective that spotlights underserved voices. A visiting lecturer in the MA film and theatre departments at Goldsmiths, University of London, and Regents University London, the NYU alum and recipient of HB Studios Christina Kukucka Playwriting Scholarship is also an MA Scriptwriting graduate from Goldsmiths, University of London. His film/TV passions are thrillers, crime dramas, musicals, and documentaries that focus on themes of structural and technological oppression, gender inequity, social injustice, sexuality, and love.

His short script, For Little Girls Who Are Afraid to Speak, is a top ten drama finalist at Creative Screenwriting Unique Voices Screenplay Competition, semi-finalist at Screencraft Short Screenplay Competition, and official selection at Sacramento and Holly Short Film Festivals. A coming-of-age drama film, an anthology thriller serial, supernatural crime series, musical drama film, and anthological radio drama series are currently in development. His inaugural project for New Kingston, An American Street Mural In Harlem, recently launched Okera as a finalist for Best First Time Director and won the Best Documentary Short Award at the New York International Film Awards.

Some of his performing and film/credits include: the NBC hit series 30 Rock; films Where Truth Lies and The Breeding; 'Angel' in the hit Broadway show RENT.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

An American Street Mural in Harlem is a tribute to the legacy of the refugees of terror who made Harlem the epicenter of African American music, art, and culture more than a hundred years ago. During the process of filming how the mural came to life, everyone became a vibrant part of how this mural changed our Harlem community when we needed hope the most.

In my interpretation, the BLM Harlem mural feels like a century-long response to Aaron Douglas’ panel series of four murals titled Aspects of Negro Life: From Slavery to Reconstruction in the way that it exemplifies African-American histories, experiences, and excellence. The documentary spotlights how the pride, hope, and resilience of a historically black community launched what became one of the country’s pre-imminent street murals. It launches a cinematic Afro-Spective investigation into past and present states of blackness that my films will confront.

Almost a year later, upon completing the film, George Floyd’s murder became the first conviction for a police officer who murdered a Black person in America. Though the Black Lives Matter Street Mural that brought a historically Black Harlem community together no longer exists on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd., the mural's legacy will continue to be celebrated through this film, a photographic hardcover book, at national theatre productions including Public Theatre’s Merry Wives, and through global cultural and institutional exhibitions currently in development at the Smithsonian.

Ano Okera
Director & Executive Producer