HipCinema Labs

HIPCINEMA LABS is a media arts incubator located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Our mission is to produce film works that preserve African American cultural heritage while envisioning strategies for justice and renewal for communities of culture. Read more about HipCinema Labs in this Fractured Atlas Profile by clicking here.

Our current project RECLAIMING THE LIGHT: The Life & Times of Lewis Latimer is written by Nadine Patterson (We Are Free Because of Harriet Tubman) and Martha Conley (Lost in the Hype), produced by Marlene G. Patterson (producer of Tango Macbeth), and Parris Z. Moore (producer KINYARWANDA).

RECLAIMING THE LIGHT Synopsis: Lewis H. Latimer, American polymath, serves in the Civil War, learns the trade of technical draftsmen and assists in the creation of the telephone with Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. With his wife and life partner Mary, he builds a family, and creates a legacy as one of the founding fathers of electrical engineering working with Thomas Alva Edison. His 1881 patent of the long lasting carbon filament, creates lights that last over 1000 hours, thereby ushering in the electric light age for common folk and industry world wide.

The team has raised $100,000 for research and development and we seek $800,000 for production/editing and $100,000 for marketing, outreach and distribution. Our goal is to complete the film at the end of 2026, debut in film festivals, and release the docu-drama on public television, schools, and libraries in 2027. Click here for more information.

Supporters of RECLAIMING THE LIGHT include the City of Philadelphia Illuminate the Arts, Independence Public Media Foundation, and the Arts Equity Reimagined Fund.

For more information contact Nadine M. Patterson at hipcinema@gmail.com.

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The film featured above is WE ARE FREE BECAUSE OF HARRIET TUBMAN produced by Marlene Patterson, world poet Sonia Sanchez and Nadine Patterson. It screened at BlackStar Film Festival, Cleveland International Film Festival, Cleveland Urban Film Festival 2021, Lake County Film Festival , Women of African Descent Film Festival.

Photo by Zamani Feelings at The Colored Girls Museum of Philadelphia. Pictured from left to right is Amy Bounds (supporter), Marlene Patterson (producer), and Nadine Patterson (producer).