April 2005

On Thursday, April 21, Sebastian Telfair made his film debut in the movie, Through the Fire. The movie was directed by Jonathon Hock and premiered at Robert DeNiro's Tribeca Film Festival in New York. "It was such a wonderful experience. And to have my name mentioned with Robert DeNiro and this film festival is overwhelming!" said Telfair.

Through the Fire focuses on Telfair's senior year of high school and the pressures he endured in deciding to go to college or try to play professional basketball. On the Tribeca Film Festival website, Through the Fire is summarized as:

At the start of his senior year at Lincoln High School, basketball phenomenon (and cousin to Knicks star Stephon Marbury) Sebastian Telfair calls a press conference to announce his decision to attend college at the end of the year. He does this as his friend, fellow teen phenom LeBron James, is making history with a $90 million dollar sneaker deal. But after two young men are gunned down outside Telfair's apartment in a public housing project, Sebastian can't suppress his urge to provide a better life for his family as soon as he can, and he decides to forgo college and go straight to the pros.

Five years earlier, his older brother, Jamel, a Providence College basketball star who also hoped of being drafted saw that dream deferred when no NBA team picked him. The aftermath left their mother Erica heartbroken and forced a devastated Jamel to play overseas in obscurity. Now it is up to Sebastian to set things right for their mother, for Jamel, and for his eight other brothers and sisters. And everyone – from the media to the NBA scouts to his basketball coach – all try claim a piece of him for themselves.

With Sebastian’s story as focal point, Through The Fire provides a provocative and intimate look at the American phenomenon that ushers poor children past the traditional means of upward mobility for the win-it-all/lose-it-all gamble of professional sports, a culture that can often push these young men to greatness, or drive them to ruin.

Photos taken by Andrew H. Walker


ABOUT THE FILM FESTIVAL
The Tribeca Film Festival was founded in 2002 by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff as a response to the attacks on the World Trade Center. Now in its fourth year, the Festival's mission is to create platforms for filmmakers to reach the best possible audience for their work. For more about the film festival, click here.

Brooklyn to Blazers with Telfair