(AllHipHop News) Filmmaker Ron Elliot and former drug dealer Shawn “Turtle” Lindsey came together to produce the new independent movie Dope Fiend.
The film is loosely based on Turtle’s life and addresses the issue of gentrification.
Dope Fiend stars Malik Yoba, Tobias Truvillion, Andra Fuller, Hisham Tawfiq, Dutchess Lattimore, Ephraim Benton, Leonardo Arias, Sakina Deer, and in his on-screen debut, 50 Cent’s son Marquise Jackson.
AllHipHop.com connected with Elliott, Turtle, and Jackson following the Brooklyn-set project winning “Best Feature” at the Newark International Film Festival.
While the plot follows drama playing out in the streets of New York, the director does not embrace the description of Dope Fiend being just a “hood movie.” In his view, there is a deeper message being conveyed.
“People like to categorize things into whatever fits them. This is a story about power, family, and how politics and our community is directly affected by it,” says Elliot. “It shows the macro and the micro of it. It shows how the family is really affected by drugs and the choices we make. Not just the drugs, but our involvement in how we react to these things that happen to us.”
Watch AllHipHop.com’s interview and a teaser for Dope Fiend below.
