Filmmaker shares art at Marble Hill church

As a child, 15-year-old Anu Keita remembers her father pinning a huge white sheet to a wall in their home, using a projector to play movies on the makeshift screen. 

“He made our house into a movie theater,” said the 15-year-old, who cites the Avenger movies and superhero films as among her favorites. 

Since February, Anu and four other students have gotten a behind-the-scenes look at the film industry through a weekly film production class at St. Stephen’s United Methodist Church in Marble Hill. 

Longtime Marble Hill resident Edmar Flores created the course, in which students learn the ins and outs of producing short films. 

“Being raised in Marble Hill, I always thought I wanted to come back and give back to the community,” said Mr. Flores, a member of the Directors Guild of America who has worked as an assistant director on a number of films including Men in Black III and a few Spike Lee films, and has produced a documentary called Maestro about the birth of house music. 

Born in Honduras, Mr. Flores moved to the south Bronx at age 3, then moved to the Marble Hill projects, where he lived from the 70s into the 90s. 

“I have all this knowledge – what do I do with it?” Mr. Flores recalled asking. He received his B.A. at Hofstra, then went on to obtain a masters in fine arts at New York University.

But working in the film industry left him seeking something more.  

“I had a void at one time,” he said. That void drew him to the 114-year-old St. Stephen’s on 228th Street. Now, along with teaching the film class and attending services as a parishioner, he plays drums at church services. 

The class is as much about identity building and developing positivity as it is about film. 

A student, 23-year-old Amber Gooden, who hopes to write a novel and adapt it into a screenplay, says the class, and Mr. Flores, have given her confidence. 

“I have a lot of talent, but it took me a whole lot of years to see it,” said Ms. Gooden, who said she struggled in her earlier years, before she began the class.