Sadly, the problems affecting the Raineys, the African American family whose north Philadelphia home accommodates this heartening documentary, are all too familiar: poverty, drugs, gun violence. It could have been filmed at any point in the last 40 years, but debut director Jonathan Olshefski follows them over a pointed stretch: the eight years of the Obama presidency.
Little shifts materially for them, but they are beacons of self-reliance and generosity. Christopher runs a home studio offering “Freestyle Fridays” for local rappers, and Christine works at a domestic violence shelter. Their optimism is tested when daughter PJ catches a stray bullet from a shootout and loses an eye. Her and her parents’ inspirational courage glows in the rich palette with which Olshefski captures the neighbourhood, investing it with love not fear. Trump’s blustering offer to America’s black population – “What have you got to lose?” – intrudes on the TV near the end, but Quest makes it clear that some things endure beyond political events. Monoscopic PJ shoots hoops with the same ease as her dad hits stoops on his newspaper delivery round without looking.
