Filmmaker Spotlight

Prayer For Philadelphia

Produced for the Great Expectations 2007 Hopes and Fears Film Competition, Prayer for Philadelphia is a 3 minute film that exorcises the city's demons by calling out residents to fulfill William Penn's bold dream to create a City of Brotherly Love. Constructed entirely from still photos (about 5,000), this film was selected as the Grand Prize winner out of over two dozen entries from the Philadelphia area. Great Expectations is a year long civic forum run by the Philadelphia Inquirer surrounding the 2007 mayoral election that is designed to create a dialogue among citizens concerning Philadelphia's future. In creating Prayer for Philadelphia, Richard Power Hoffmann teamed up with longtime musical collaborators Pete Tramo and Timothy Mercer (Invisible Mountains, Fridays at the Farm) and newcomer Pecue to create the film over a period of two weeks. First, Hoffmann wrote the script and recorded the voice-over, then handed it over to the musicians. Upon hearing their sound design and score, Hoffmann was inspired to ride his bike around the city for four days, filming the many landmarks and people he met along the way. The resulting mix of time-lapse and still photography pays tribute to Philadelphia's past glories, addresses current challenges, and offers hope for the city's future. Prayer for Philadelphia will be screened for free on Jan. 8th at the Prince Music Theater's Black Box along with other Hopes & Fears winners. The program starts at 6PM. RSVP to http://www.coyopa.com