Film company premiers new documentary
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BUFFALO, NY - A red carpet film premier may not be something you see everyday in Buffalo. One local filmmaker is unveiling his feature documentary on Africa, called "The Experience."
"I could go on that route the slaves went on. All the way from northern Ghana down to the coastline and stop at the villages and get the indigenous memory. This is their indigenous memory. But this is my identity from a point of view like, you know, this is how I came out. I'm African- American because of the slave trade and living in America," said filmmaker Addison Henderson.
The documentary took almost three years to make and it infuses the stories of four different people living in Africa.
"A lot of people who watch this film won't be able to journey back to Africa, so hopefully by watching this film they embrace it and almost feel like they were there and pretty much imagine themselves in our shoes," said filmmaker Corey Green.
The film documents a glimpse of African life and conveys a feeling most will never know.
"It's just a warm feeling that you get. It's a love feeling that you get when you walk off that plane. And the smell of it ... it has the smell of burning wood. So anytime I'm anyplace, with my girlfriend, I smell burning wood, I say, that's Africa and I get these images in my head," said Henderson.
One of the filmmakers said, growing up, his grandmother used to tell him stories about the importance of learning about his African heritage. Unfortunately, his grandmother passed away a few years ago. He says if she could be here to see the premier, she'd be smiling ear to ear.
"You can still look a little further. Open a book, do something basically to learn where you come from. And not just for African- Americans, but across the board, because in today's society with a lot of the youth, it's not important," said Green.
The film explores the issue of identity throughout West Africa.