Chronicling the story behind Vancouver’s historically Black neighbourhood, Hogan’s Alley, required years of research on the part of director Jamila Pomeroy.

The result is the documentary Union Street, which was released Canada-wide on TELUS Optik TV on Tuesday (Feb. 20) as part of its Black History Month programming, which also includes the Notic streetball collective doc Handle With Care, directed by Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux and Kirk Thomas, and produced by Ryan Sidhoo.

The film previously had a sold-out four-day run in its world premiere at the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) last October.

Union Street examines the generational impact of racism and the cultural erasure of African Canadians through the view of Vancouver neighbourhood Hogan’s Alley, which was a primarily Black community before it was demolished in the 1960s. The documentary shows Black Canadians in Vancouver in their effort to rebuild the community.

Pomeroy tells Playback Daily that she first heard about Hogan’s Alley in 2008 and self-funded the initial research phase of the documentary, which was done “purely out of curiosity for why a metropolitan city like Vancouver had so few African-Canadians.”

She began pitching the project to broadcasters in November 2020 with the support of producer Mack Stannard, who financed a teaser in the development stage. In the meantime, Pomeroy continued her research, which spanned more than a year.

Stannard says Telus gave them the greenlight in February 2022, with a six-month window for production.

The doc wrapped filming in May 2022 on a budget of less than $500,000, with post-production lasting two months before the film was delivered in August of that year.

One of the challenges they ran into while filming was creating the ending. Pomeroy says they initially wanted the film to end with a block party, but couldn’t make it happen.

“We wanted to have a big celebration of all our people in the film, and also the community coming together to reclaim the old neighbourhood. We weren’t able to make that happen with city bylaws,” explains Pomeroy, noting that it “showcases some of the municipal barriers that are in place for Black folks today.”

“Instead of showcasing this cultural celebration, we were able to film at a block party that happened later that summer with a few cast members; and we also closed off the film with an intercut that chronicled cast members wishing for a Black cultural space in Vancouver,” she says.

Before the premiere at VIFF, Pomeroy says the Polygon Gallery curators Elliott Ramsey and Oluwasayo Olowo-Ake invited her to do a talk about Black and African narratives in film.

“This event really helped build the initial intrigue of the film in Vancouver. The marketing strategy after that was to connect with the Vancouver community and media first in a grassroots way, which helped us land earned media,” she says. “We focused a lot on connecting with Black organizations like Black Van Club and Afro Van Connect, who we’ve done panels and collaborated with as media partners.”

What followed was a sold-out festival run for its world premiere, with Pomeroy recalling hearing about lineups down the street for tickets.

“I don’t think people were expecting to have the turnout we had,” says Pomeroy. “It was beautiful to see a completely packed house.”

The VIFF Centre later asked Pomeroy to curate a series for its Black History Month programming. The curation included films that were meant to pair well with Union Street, like the scripted film Sorry to Bother You by Boots Riley, who she describes as an “inspiring” director with “masterful” timing.

“The film definitely tackles a lot of African American issues, but it does so in a comedic way that actually makes a lot of the issues feel universal and not just rooted in the Black experience,” says Pomeroy.

In addition to the 2023 VIFF screenings, Union Street was also an official selection of various film festivals, both in the U.S. and Canada. The festival run included the 2023 Toronto Reelworld Film Festival, the upcoming 2024 LA Black Film Festival, the 2024 Seattle Black Film Festival, and the 2024 Milian Independent Film Festival (MIAFF). The film won Best Director for a Feature Film at Reelworld and Best Documentary at MIAFF.

Stannard says that they wanted to do their festival run before the Telus release. “Then, we’ll be looking to sell to a wider Canadian distributor and internationally as well,” he adds.

“Mack and I hope that people watch the film and walk away feeling inspired to make an impact in their communities and to research where they live,” says Pomeroy.

Image courtesy of Telus