Hadjii: From unknown to Somebodies
Athens film hits the big time at Sundance

By Martin Kelley
Editor-In-Chief

"The little indie that could" might be the way to describe a small film from Athens, Georgia, that made it all the way to Park City, Utah—the site of the Sundance Film Festival—and literally became Somebodies in the prestigious dramatic competition.

Writer/Director Hadjii (photo: Somebodies Productions LLC)

Director-writer-star Hadjii charmed audiences with his light-hearted but occasionally poignant movie, as well as with his unassuming charm during the question and answer sessions. I heard the buzz from perfect strangers, one of whom confessed to me, "I liked the film—it was funny—but I liked it even more after seeing the director during the Q & A." The cool party on Main Street didn't hurt the film's word-of-mouth any either.

How did this movie go from the mind of Hadjii, an adjunct writing instructor at the University of Georgia, to the big screen at Sundance?

It started when Nathaniel Kohn, a professor at Georgia who eventually became the film's producer, took an interest. "Hadjii was a student in the first class I taught at the University," Kohn said. "He gave me a copy of a [spec] Seinfeld episode he had written. I loved it and suggested he do a similar script about his world."

Kohn is no stranger to underdog movies. He's the director of critic Roger Ebert's Overlooked Film Festival, which spotlights films that just never got the attention they deserved, as well as co-founder and director of Robert Osborne's Classic Film Festival. So championing this film, along with his wife, producer Pamela Kohn, seems a natural progression, especially given his belief in the power of digital film technology to transform the business.

"The mobility, cost effectiveness and democracy of digital moviemaking technology has given us the accident of grassroots film-making," Kohn said. "It's cinema that comes from the ground up, not Hollywood down."

Hadjii and Kaira Whitehead star in Somebodies. (photo: Somebodies Productions LLC)

In the tradition of indie comedies like Clerks and Kicking and Screaming, Sombodies tells a specific story that will still be wistfully familiar to so many. The film is about Scottie, a 22-year-old African-American college student who's just taking the good life as it comes, trying to balance studies with partying.

One night his love of a good time and alcohol gets him into a little trouble and forces him to think about his life and how he's living it. Scottie walks a tenuous path to find himself while he deals with a raucous group of friends and family and a new girlfriend (not that he's quick to admit that she is a girlfriend) who challenges convention.

The film was shot in Athens, which may not explicitly be the setting of the film but still seems to be an inspired character of its own.

Director Hadjii, a Brunswick, Georgia, native, graduated from the University of Georgia and now teaches writing as an adjunct instructor. In 2004, he was a finalist in the Atlanta Film Festival's Perfect Pitch competition with another screenplay, My Father's Business. With Somebodies, Hadjii wanted to represent a side of black people that is rarely represented in the movies. Scottie is neither a thug nor some overly PC construct; he's just an average guy, who happens to be black, and his friends.

That's what Kohn found appealing in Hadjii's work. "Hadjii is a brilliant writer, able to recreate his world on paper and on the screen," Kohn said. "That is rare."

Kohn hopes that Somebodies paves the way toward making Athens a vibrant film community. Plans are already being made to shoot Hadjii's next feature there later this year.

Perhaps the town that brought an incredible wave of indie rock bands in the '80s can also provide a number of independent filmmakers who take their visions to the people in a similar way.

Martin Kelley is a local screenwriter and filmmaker. He is a co-founder and co-president of the Atlanta Screenwriters Group. Martin's screenwriting credits include "Loaded Dice," "Behind the Nine" (Echelon Entertainment) and "Vicious" (M.T.I. Home Entertainment).

Dancing in Park City:
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Hadjii answers Q&A with his cast on stage at Sundance. (photo: Dan Slemons)

At the Somebodies party, Hadjii and actor Chris Burns pose for a photo. (photo: Dan Slemons)

Producer Nathaniel Kohn helped make Somebodies a reality. (photo: Dan Slemons)

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