Experiencing Interruptions?

Some Kind of Heavenly Fire

In the summer of 2003, on the east side of Detroit a Grandfather tries to hide his daughter’s incarceration from his young grandson in the midst of a city wide blackout and alien invasion.

  • Eric Vincent Riley
    Director
  • Eric Vincent Riley
    Writer
  • Jasmin Joseph
    Writer
  • Jasmin Joseph
    Producer
  • Eric Vincent Riley
    Producer
  • Tendo Nagenda
    Producer
    The Book of Clarence, Mulan, 50/50
  • Gabriel Freeman
    Producer
  • Emuni Sanderson
    Producer
  • Gregory Thompson
    Key Cast
    "GRANDAD"
    Black-ish, 500 Days of Summer, This is Us, Truth be Told
  • Edward "EJ" Childress
    Key Cast
    "ERIC"
  • Kyla Alexander
    Key Cast
    "RED"
  • Ernest Moore
    Key Cast
    "DARNELL"
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Drama, SciFi
  • Runtime:
    20 minutes 39 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 1, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    31,373 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    4:3, 1:66
  • Film Color:
    Black & White
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Eric Vincent Riley

Eric Riley is a filmmaker and urban planner proudly born and raised on the Westside of Detroit. As a native and proud Detroiter Eric is used to seeing marginalized people and places misrepresented on the screen. Eric believes that with the power of creating narratives and images comes a responsibility to the communities those visual experiences depict. He works to create films that engulf an audience in a person or community’s experience; to make audiences feel others' lived experiences and not just consume them. SOME KIND OF HEAVENLY FIRE is Eric's short film directorial debut.

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Director Statement

SKHF addresses the themes of grief and loss, employing alien abduction as allegory for the effects of family separation at the hands of the legal system. The story was inspired by the difficult times my family experienced when my sister went to jail. My sister’s sudden disappearance exposed how emotionally unprepared we all were for those closest to us to be snatched away.

It was during this time of immense personal upheaval that I began to think of how my story could be told in a way to connect families experiencing the same pain. I began to process my grief through narrative, crafting a story based on the real emotions I felt, but through a more fantastical prism. By combining my specific story with a more universal storytelling form, I wanted to make something that would be accessible, connecting people and their pain in ways they don’t anticipate from a genre movie. It’s often the most fantastical stories that help us to process our pain, allowing audiences to open themselves up in ways a traditional drama or documentary couldn’t.

I hope to make something that can move, wow, and connect people. I hope you'll consider coming on this journey with us.

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