'Gospel Hill' explores displacement

Shot in South Carolina, the feature film "Gospel Hill" deals with the issues of development and potential displacement of traditional African-American communities in such areas as the Lowcountry.

Actor-director Giancarlo Esposito's timely movie, which enjoys a reprise screening at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Olde North Charleston Picture House in North Charleston, echoes the theme of dispossession earlier explored in the locally filmed documentary "Bin Yah: There's No Place Like Home," directed by Justin Nathanson and written by Cara White.

A panel discussion follows the "Gospel Hill" screening. Participating are the presidents of four neighborhood associations (Chicora-Cherokee, Liberty Hill, Oak Terrace Preserve, Olde North Charleston) and individuals representing groups involved in housing development in the area (Metanoia, the Noisette Foundation, the North Charleston Housing Authority and TCG Development).

Also a featured presentation at the recent Charleston International Film Festival, "Gospel Hill" unfolds in a small Southern town, where, years ago, a local civil rights leader was assassinated. After the killing of his father, John Malcolm (Danny Glover) remains in relative seclusion. But his wife, Sarah (Angela Bassett), continues to fight the good fight, this time against a local doctor (Esposito) leading a drive to displace much of the town's African-American community to accommodate a large development project.

Their fates will intersect with those of the town's former sheriff (Tom Bower), now fallen into poverty and ill health, his two sons (Taylor Kitsch, Adam Baldwin), the doctor's wife (Nia Long) and a newly arrived schoolteacher (Julia Stiles) keen to support resistance to the project. Each will have to make difficult, pivotal choices.

Reach Bill Thompson at bthompson@postandcourier.com or 937-5707.