Programmed August 2021

The Inheritance \ The Diaspora Suite \ Notes on The Inheritance

The Inheritance After nearly a decade exploring different facets of the African diaspora—and his own place within it—Ephraim Asili makes his feature-length debut with this astonishing ensemble work set almost entirely within a West Philadelphia house inhabited by a collective of young, Black artists and activists. Based partly on Asili’s own experiences in a Black liberationist group, The Inheritance interweaves a scripted drama about characters attempting to work toward political consensus with a documentary recollection of the Philadelphia organization MOVE, the target of a notorious police bombing in 1985. Boldly combining politics, humor, and philosophy, Asili puts forth an intellectually and aesthetically adventurous statement on the history and evolution of Black activism. The Diaspora Suite Made over the course of…