*Director Qasim Basir tells EUR in an exclusive new interview that his upcoming fourth feature, “To Live and Die and Live,” is an ode to his late stepfather.
According to a press release, the film was all the rage at the Sundance Film Festival ’23, garnering exceptional reviews and leaving audiences in awe at Park City.
Per IMDB, the story follows Muhammad, a troubled man who “returns home to Detroit to bury his stepfather and is thrust into settling his accounts, but Muhammad’s struggles with depression and addiction may finish him before he finishes the task.”
The film does not yet have a release date, but Essence covered the Sundance screening earlier this year and wrote, “To Live and Die and Live is making a statement on the power of redemption and finding a way to both survive when you have to and thrive when you can.”
Per Deadline’s review, “… the film truly does make Detroit better than it ever has for a century, at least in the movies..”
Amin Joseph leads the cast as Muhammad, with co-stars Skye P. Marshall, Maryam Basir, and Omari Hardrict.
“I initially thought that the most challenging thing would be the functioning addiction of it all because he’s dealing with the anxiety of burying his stepfather and he’s already a functioning addict,” Joseph previously said about his character in an interview with Collider.
“So how would I approach his behavior, his highs and lows in the context of grief, the death of someone that is pivotal? Part of the foundation of who this man is, he’s losing, and he has to bury him so quickly because of his culture,” he continued. “That’s what I initially thought would be the most challenging aspect of filming and of Muhammad.”
Joseph explained that “the hardest thing” was the emotional and physical demands of the role “because Muhammad just wouldn’t sleep at night,” he said.
Basir explained to EUR that “To Live and Die and Live Again” is a profoundly personal project inspired by his late stepfather.
The filmmaker’s work was highlighted at the 27th Annual Urbanworld Film Festival. His second film, “Destined,” starring Cory Hardrict, Jesse Metcalf, and Hill Harper, premiered at the LA Film Festival and earned him Best Director and Actor at the American Black Film Festival, per the news release. The film also won Best Feature at Urbanworld.
His forthcoming feature film, “The Dutchman,” is a psychological thriller based on the Obie Award-winning play by Amiri Baraka. The project stars André Holland, Kate Mara, Zazie Beetz, and Stephen McKinley Henderson.
In our conversation with Basir below, he opens up about returning to Urbanworld this year, how the COVID pandemic impacted his filmmaking journey, and his “compassionate” portrayal of addiction in “To Live and Die and Live Again.”
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