My Own Mecca
An Oakland native navigates his way through life by having to contort who he is as a person in order to make it through these various situations without being caught out by his opposers.
The Story Of My Own Mecca
My Own Mecca is the story about Dre living his day to day life in Oakland, California. Dre and his wife Anyssa are soon to be moving to a new location but are struggling to find the right spot due to the high rent in the Bay Area.
On his way home, Dre gives his old friend Walt a ride to a motel. While waiting for Walt’s friend to arrive, Dre is confronted with cocaine being placed in his car by his friend and rising anxiety/paranoia about being in an uncomfortable situation. Dre decides it’s best to leave his friend Walt so he can remove himself from that situation, but on the way home he’s confronted with another obstacle that is the police officer.
Dre must remain calm despite knowing how quickly one wrong move can result in him having his body destroyed. Overall the film is about Dre having to contort who he is as a person in order to make it through these various situations without being caught out by his opposers.
Representation and Inclusion of Oakland
My Own Mecca increases representation for Bay Area stories and filmmakers. Recently there has been a lot of quality feature films sharing the stories of natives in San Francisco & Oakland.
Having a short film released that depicts life in the Bay accurately is important because it can give another young filmmaker the inspiration to feel that they also can have their voices heard as well & create their own films.
This project has a crew that comes from various ethnic backgrounds & genders that will allow for the film to truly be representative of how diverse the Bay Area is.
Why This Project Is Significant To You
My Own Mecca is a film based on a personal experience that isn’t solely the story of one individual but is representative of a lot of people of color living in the East Bay.
This project touches on the many situations that Black men find themselves having to try to navigate through their everyday lives without having their body’s destroyed; albeit the Police or other people who look like them. This short film can serve as a way for people going through these experiences to have a positive outlet to discover more about themselves through conversation with others who watch the film.
Additionally for people in the Bay Area and around the globe that are fortunate enough to not have this first hand experience can view this film and observe how black men have to code-switch their ways through life.