After a heart attack on stage in Berlin nearly kills him, internationally renowned performer and filmmaker Jeremy Xido returns home to Detroit for the first time in over 20 years to confront demons from his past. As the only child of Marxist parents and the only white kid in his neighborhood, Jeremy was taken in and raised as one of the cousins in a Black family in 1970s Detroit. He returns home many years later to find their house in ruins and his family scattered. To piece together what happened, he searches out his cousin, Boo, who is also recently home after 20 years in prison. Together, the two men unravel tangled threads of race, belonging, violence, and love that shaped their lives. Part love letter, part detective story, SONS OF DETROIT blurs genres, weaving together documentary, performance art, and storytelling. Through the story of a single family in America’s quintessential city, the film raises urgent questions. What does it mean to be white? What’s the price we pay for running from our past? How do we heal in the wake of tremendous destruction?
Written and Directed by: Jeremy Xido
Produced by: Amanda Burr
Executive Producers: Joe Brewster, Lori Cheatle, Michèle Stephenson
Co-Producer: Russell Stewart
Associate Producers: Amy Wright, Zoe Malhotra
Archival Producers: Prudence Arndt, Paige Gresty
Editors: Èlia Gasull Balada, Katharine Garrison, Kimberley Hassett
Directors of Photography: Jide Tom Akinleminu, Johan Legraie
Supervising Sound Editor and Sound Designer: Marcelo de Oliveira
Music by: Waajeed, Tim Bright
Animation: PHLEA TV
Based on “The Angola Project” created by Jeremy Xido, Igor Dobricic
