The Inheritance
Special physically-distanced screenings are available for Rensselaer classes of the EMPAC-commissioned film The Inheritance by Ephraim Asili during the week of 16-20 November.
In addition to these in-person class-specific screenings, all Rensselaer students, faculty and staff can request to watch The Inheritance online and we will provide a link.
Ephraim Asili’s The Inheritance weaves histories of the West Philadelphia–based MOVE Organization, the Black Arts Movement, and dramatizations of the life of the filmmaker when he was a member of a Black activist collective. Centering on what Asili describes as a “speculative reenactment” of his time in a West Philadelphia collective, the actors scripted lives on set are entwined with cameos by MOVE's Debbie Africa, Mike Africa Sr., and Mike Africa Jr., and poet-activists Sonia Sanchez and Ursula Rucker.
After the EMPAC preview of The Inheritance on April 9, 2020 was postponed due to COVID-19 protocols, it premiered at Toronto International Film Festival and had its US premiere at the New York film festival US premiere on Friday 19 September.
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA ..... TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ..... SEPTEMBER 10–19, 2020
NEW YORK CITY, NY ..... NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL, CURRENTS HEADLINER ..... FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2020
PARIS, FRANCE ..... CINÉMA du RÉEL 2021, GRAND PRIZE ..... MARCH 10–21, 2021
NEW YORK CITY, NY ..... BIG SCREEN SUMMER: NYFF58 REDUX ..... SUMMER, 2021
Main Image: Ephraim Asili, Production still from The Inheritance. Photo: Mick Bello/EMPAC.
The Inheritance by Ephraim Asili. Trailer by Peter O’Brien (2020)
The Inheritance by Ephraim Asili. Trailer by Stella Seganti (2020)
The Inheritance by Ephraim Asili. Trailer by Connor Murphy (2020)
Dates + Tickets
Duration: 100 minutes
EMPAC Fall 2020
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This screening is a preview of The Inheritance, commissioned by EMPAC. It was filmed in Studio 1—Goodman and on location in Philadelphia.
EMPAC Spring 2020 presentations, residencies, and commissions are made possible by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts; New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts; and Vlaamse Gemeenschap, department of Culture, Youth, and Media.