Private Project

REBIRTH OF A CITY - The Story of the Honorable Nathaniel Bates

Sometimes the city shapes the man. Sometimes the man shapes the city. This is a story about a man that did both.

Nathaniel Bates, the nation's oldest elected official at age 91, and one of the longest-serving African-American politicians in the United States. His journey reflects the struggles and triumphs of a community-seeking change.

Through his leadership, Bates not only influenced policy, but also inspired countless individuals to strive for a better future.

This is his story.

  • Steven Bernier
    Director
  • Steven Bernier
    Writer
    Because They Believed, What Ah Nerd
  • Arif Khatib
    Writer
    Because They Believed
  • Steven Bernier
    Producer
    Because They Believed, What Ah Nerd
  • Arif Khatib
    Producer
    Because They Believed
  • Nathaniel Bates
    Key Cast
  • Willie Reed
    Key Cast
  • Willie Brown
    Key Cast
  • Clarice Van Hook
    Key Cast
  • Zee Handoush
    Key Cast
  • Bobby Winston
    Key Cast
  • Jerry Overa
    Key Cast
  • Mark Berg
    Key Cast
  • John Gioia
    Key Cast
  • Bobbie Amos
    Key Cast
  • David Spatz
    Key Cast
  • Edwardo Martinez
    Key Cast
  • Jake Sloan
    Key Cast
  • Albert Engel
    Key Cast
  • Bernice Smith
    Key Cast
  • Elihu Harris
    Key Cast
  • Carl Adams
    Key Cast
  • Janet Johnson
    Key Cast
  • Myrna Lopez
    Key Cast
  • Don Gosney
    Key Cast
  • Andrea Bailey
    Key Cast
  • Vernon Whitmore
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 30 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    February 11, 2026
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • BEST DIRECTOR FEATURE DOCUMENTARY - New York Film Female Actress Award
    New York
    United States
    BEST DIRECTOR FEATURE DOCUMENTARY
  • Semi-Finalist - Oakland Film Festival
    Oakland, California
    United States
    Official Selection
  • LA Film & Documentary Award
    Los Angeles
    United States
    Official Selection
  • Bronze Telly Winner in Animated TV, Film & Shorts - Documentary
    New York
    United States
    Bronze Telly Winner
Director Biography - Steven Bernier

Steven Bernier, a native of New York City, is an accomplished writer, director, and producer whose work spans films, documentaries, television commercials, and corporate videos. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, he has also created segments for cable television news, blending strong storytelling with polished production values across narrative and non‑fiction formats.

In 2015 he founded Street Dreams Productions to focus on independent filmmaking and multidisciplinary media projects. Under his leadership the company has grown into a creative hub with more than 40 projects in development, ranging from feature films and documentaries to branded content and experimental shorts, while fostering collaborations with composers, talent, and production crews. https://www.streetdreamsprod.com/

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Director’s Statement — REBIRTH OF A CITY

When I first met Nathaniel Bates, I encountered more than a public figure; I encountered living history. At 91, Bates carries the layered memory of a city that has been reshaped by segregation, disinvestment, activism, and resilience. This film is my attempt to hold that memory with care — to witness a life that is inseparable from the community he has served, and to use his story as a lens on larger issues of power, persistence, and possibility.

REBIRTH OF A CITY is less a biography of an individual than a portrait of civic stewardship. Bates’s long tenure reveals both the incremental mechanics of local democracy and the moral muscle required to defend it. Through city council meetings, neighborhood kitchens, campaign trail conversations, and quiet moments at home, we track how policy decisions intersect with everyday lives — how zoning, education, policing, and economic development become tangible forces in a neighborhood’s survival and renewal.

Visually and rhythmically, the film blends observational vérité with intimate interviews. I wanted the camera to be present but unobtrusive: to catch the cadence of Bates’s speech, the gestures of elders in community halls, the graffiti and construction that map a city mid-reinvention. Archival materials and contemporary footage sit side by side to show continuities and ruptures — how the past persists in the present, and how hope is built through sustained, sometimes stubborn, collective effort.

Ethically, the project is rooted in responsibility to the people on screen. This meant returning to neighborhoods multiple times, listening longer than I expected, and allowing space for contradictions — pride and frustration, compromise and conviction. Bates is neither saint nor symbol; he is a practice in public life, a demonstration of what longevity in office can look like when coupled with humility and accountability.

My hope for REBIRTH OF A CITY is threefold: to honor a remarkable public servant; to illuminate the structures that shape urban lives; and to inspire viewers to imagine their own role in civic renewal. If audiences leave with a clearer sense that democracy is both fragile and repairable — and that one person’s tenacity can galvanize a whole community — then the film will have done its work.

— Director