Spectrum of Hope
Co-directed with 7 young artists from Regent Park, Spectrum of Hope is a powerful expression of pride in this East-side Toronto neighbourhood currently undergoing a massive revitalization.
The idea came about when musician Thompson Egbo-Egbo moved back to the city after a few years away at school and heard Mustafa the Poet’s piece about the new culture hub the Daniels Spectrum (regentparkarts.ca), operated by Artscape (artscape.ca). Home to many outstanding arts-based and community-focused organizations, Daniels Spectrum contains several event, performance and exhibition spaces that host tens of thousands of visitors, and hundreds of arts and cultural events each year. Through the Thompson T. Egbo-Egbo Arts Foundation (egbofoundation.org), Egbo-Egbo enlisted the help of creative studio ’Twice Upon a Time’ (twiceuponati.me), to create a piece for Regent Park, by Regent Park.
The young people who took part in the making of this video all participate in various programs at Daniels Spectrum, including the Ada Slaight Youth Arts Mentorship Program. The funds to help accomplish this project were donated by fellow musician, friend, and president of the Daniels Corporation, Mitchell Cohen. Timelapse footage of Regent Park construction provided by Toronto Community Housing.
Executive Producer: Mitchell Cohen / Producer: Thompson Egbo-Egbo / Co-directors: Isaac Mbikay, Ahmed Barud, Nigel Fernando, Nejat Khalid, Rahman Fahim, Bhagavan Nageshar / Creative Directors: Nicole Beals, Juan Baquero / Director of Photography: Juan Baquero / Vocals/ Writer: Mustafa Ahmed / Piano/Composer: Thompson Egbo-Egbo / Mastered at 1092 Studios – Matthew Gordon – 1092studios.com / Recorded at Phase 1 Studios – Mike Smith phaseonestudios.com / Drums: Max Roach / Double Bass: Randall Hall / Camera: Isaac Mbikay, Ahmed Barud, Nigel Fernando, Nejat Khalid, Rahman Fahim, Bhagavan Nageshar / Additional Camera: Hugh Avendano / Drone operator: James Buffin / Editing: Nicole Beals, Juan Baquero / Production Assistant: Marta de Avendano / Additional equipment provided by: Hugh Avendano, James Buffin – Veritas Pictures / Actors: Ahmed Barud, Vincentia Tri Astuti, Isaac Mbikay, Bradley Smart, Khari Richards.
Special Thanks: Daniels Corporation, Daniels Spectrum, Artscape, Toronto Community Housing, Seema Jethalal, Lisa Smart, Farid Jalil, Sylvia Kim - CSI, Josh Layton, Silvia Aviles, Jennifer Hardy, Amanda Armstrong, Farah N. Mawani, Elmira Reisi, Vareia Boxill, Jennifer Mendoza, Charles O’Brien, Rachel Padolus, Abigail Yewande Oduneye, Bina Lee, Racheal McCaig, Ananya Ohri / Regent Park Film Festival, Judy Fournier / Art Heart, Charmaine Headley / COBA, Isaac Thomas / Native Earth Performing Arts, Joycelyn Amos / Pathways, Richard Marsella / Regent Park School of Music, Erik Paetkau / Group of 27, Clarence Thomas / Square Circle, David Carroll & Omar Halabi / FRESHCO, Melissa Huntley / Toronto Police Service 51 Division, Sureya Ibrahim , Majeed Shaheed, Raheema Majeed, Azam Azad, Maseeda Majeed, Hamza Azam, Zainab Azam, Isa Azam.
