Mateen Kemet is a former Wall Street bond trader, school teacher, a lifelong martial artist, emerging film director and a certifiable, Bronx New Yorker.
Kemet (pictured below) is fully invested not just in his Bronx origins but also the hometown of California's returning Governor. He co-founded Sons of Ra, a community-based education program; served as Director of Youth Entrepreneurship for the J.G.T. Foundation. Currently, he is working on a 30-minute drama entitled Oakland b Mine which, when completed, is set to screen in a loop on a 25-foot media wall at the Southwest Airlines baggage claim area of Oakland International Airport.
Championing America's most multi-cultural city
Given Kemet's lifelong martial arts training (he apprenticed at one point under the watchful eye of Chris Chan), it's perhaps only a matter of time before the seventh place finisher on the Mark Burnett-Steven Spielberg Fox reality TV show uncorks a killer kung fu flick. But for the moment, it's all about Oakland b Mine. Kemet got a $20,000 grant from Port of Oakland in 2006 and is currently, under a deadline of December 31st, hoping to raise an additional $15,000 via IndieGogo.
His short film tells the story of a weary traveler (Anthony Haynes) who, upon arriving in Oakland, is enchanted by the sight of a beautiful woman (Erinn Anova). As he chases after her through the other city by the bay, viewers will be treated to the full panorama of “non-10 o'clock news” local sights and attractions.
Kemet is keen to let people know about his adopted city's astonishing multi-culturalism (more than 100 different languages are spoken there) and walkability. Among his other current projects is The Sundarbans Tigers. It's a book on tape reading that he is directing, set in the mangrove forest of Bangladesh.
[Oakland b Mine]
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