LYNN — Harlem’s 2023 Hip Hop Film Festival is going to see some faces from the city as a short film called “The Golden Age,” produced by and starring Lynners, heads to the festival in August.
The film, which was produced by Blatant Product Placement Productions, follows a rapper and a musician who find their way back together after 10 years apart.
“There’s a little bit of commentary about how they lived out their respective music careers during the golden age,” Chantha Luk, the director and writer of the film, said. “Their differences mesh somehow, both musically and romantically.”
As a former rapper and a fan of romantic comedies, Luk always knew in his heart that he wanted to make this film.
“The script was already done in my head, it was just where can I find the people to make this? And I probably looked too far and wide with audition calls, things like that, and not realizing the the heart of hip-hop culture for me has always been Lynn-based, and so when I came back, looking around at home, I found the main actors just right around me,” Luk said.
The stars of “The Golden Age” are Demo Woodz, Erika Evans, and Nixon Etienne — all of whom have connections to Lynn. Woodz is a local comedian, Etienne will soon be a Lynn English High School teacher, and Evans worked at Gregg House, an early-education center in the city.
Luk said he wanted to show the hip-hop culture in Lynn, and that the entire project “worked out magically.”
Greg Morales-Jones, a writer and crew member on the project, said all of BPPP’s casts and crews have worked very hard on each of its projects.
“I’m very, very proud of it. I’m always really happy to see the chemistry and energy between the actors on screen, the set, the crew behind the scenes,” Morales-Jones said.
BPPP was created during the pandemic, Luk said.
“We needed an outlet here for actors, for the creatives,” he said. “This our first film festival, the Hip Hop Film Festival in Harlem is the first one to accept us and select us, and it’s pretty prestigious on our end.”
Being accepted to the film festival is very exciting for them, he said, and the increased recognition from it has already started. Actors that Luk has wanted to work with for a while are reaching out to take part in future projects, he said.
“It’s been amazing, just from that one thing and now the snowball effect that’s happening,” Luk said. “We’re just looking forward to more film festivals and more awards, accolades and just just making great stuff that people want to see.”
Those who want to watch the short film will have to wait to do so until after the festival, he said.
