Filmmaker Art Hooker is making sure the movement will be televised. A relative of Grammy Award-winning Blues musician John Lee Hooker, the filmmaker is working on a new Christian Hip Hop documentary entitled, Unashamed. A follower of Christian Hip Hop since the sub-genre’s inception, Hooker has decided to document the movement.
“What prompted me to make the Unashamed film was primarily I spent three years traveling, studying creativity in different parts of the world from the Middle East, U.K., India and the U.S.,” Hooker said. “With a chance meeting or reconnection with Lecrae, and talking with Ben Washer at Reach [Records], I realized that what I had been researching they had been doing; creating music for a movement. I realized I had to make the film.”
Hooker hopes to have Unashamed completed by the spring of 2012.
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The full-length film project centers on how the unlikely cast of characters on the Reach Records label – Lecrae, Washer, Pro, Trip Lee, KB, Tedashii, Andy Mineo and [former Reach artist] Sho Baraka – joined forces to create a new chapter in the global underground Christian Hip Hop movement.
The documentary, which will include an accompanying soundtrack, starts with the humble beginnings of Reach Records. It culminates with a 37-city tour that ends with a concert in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Unashamed introduces viewers to Christian hip-hop legends from the past, as well as present-day artists like Flame, Thi’sl, Da. T.R.U.T.H., Ambassador and many others in addition to Reach Records artists.
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“The goal of the film is to show what is happening in Christian Hip Hop right now,” Hooker said. “We’re also looking at Christian Hip Hop historically, from where it started to where it is now. We’re also looking at other artists that are prominent in Christian Hip Hop. The spine of the film is about the 1-1-6 Clique, but it’s not just about the 1-1-6 Clique. It’s about the movement of Christian Hip Hop as a whole, and its effect on society and culture around the world.”
Hooker is trying to raise $60,000 to complete the project. Recently, a video was released explaining Unashamed and inviting fans of the Christian Hip Hop movement into a partnership.
“This is one of the first Hip Hop films to my knowledge that has been created by the fans for the fans,” Hooker said. “The goal is for them to get involved even on the process of funding that we need to create the film.”
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In addition to Unashamed, Hooker co-wrote and co-directed a comedy short entitled Stalkers Dating Guide, which won the best-produced screenplay award in The Action on Film Festival in Pasadena, California. His other short film, Platonic Bomb, received a nomination for best film at the Texas Black Film Festival. Hooker said more information about Unashamed is available on Twitter at @Unashamedmovie or indiegogo.com/unashamed.
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