Writer/directer and actor Solvan Naim discusses his new film “Stanhope,” which screened at ABFF 2015 this weekend. 

Q:  What is it like being at this festival tonight for you?

A:  I mean it’s great.  We are super excited.  This is my second time as a filmmaker at this festival.  I had a film in 2013 called Full Circle and that’s available on Netflix, On Demand, everything so everybody can see that right now.  And this is the next project; it is a short film called StanHope.  This is about a Brooklyn teenage assassin who works for drug dealers and it based on true events, true stories.  And that’s what I am here now for.

Q:  Can you talk about StanHope like what was the inspiration behind that?

A:  It was the inspiration of what was happening in my neighborhood.  It was based on true events.  There were a lot of stuff coming out about child assassins, child soldiers, and when you think that you think of different countries but the reality is that is happening right here too.  So I wanted to shed a light on that.

 

Q:  And what are you excited for about this movie?

A:  I am excited for HBO.  I am excited for the film that is going to be on HBO.  So I got Full Circle on Netflix and this is about to be on HBO.

 

Q:  And what can you talk about as far as your music?

A:  There’s a Full Circle album too that’s available on iTunes so all the music for it was original.  And a lot of them were my tracks.  So that’s what I am trying to do, fuse the music and film.  That’s what I am here to do.

-Vinesh Vora