Educational Media Reviews Online

Hubert Davis planned to tell the story of his father Mel, a former Harlem Globetrotter, but found it impossible to separate his dad’s story from his own and that of the rest of the family. Blending family movies, archival photos and footage with contemporary scenes, Davis has crafted a jewel of film that celebrates the resilience and strength of his family. In telling the story of his family, Davis believes he has changed the direction of his own life.

In the 1960s Mel Davis fell in love with Megan, a young white woman, but this was a taboo relationship at the time. He married Maryetta, a black woman from Chicago, but the marriage was “stormy from the beginning.” Neither Davis nor his wife had father role models, and their son has vivid memories of the shared unhappiness. Unable to forget his lover in Vancouver, Davis met with her when circumstances permitted and fathered a son. Hardwood is the exploration of the meeting of the two families, the reconciliation of the sons with their father and a celebration of the role that strong women played in keeping these two young men away from the dangers of the street.

Hubert Davis explores both the suffering and the love in these complex relationships. His half brother speaks eloquently of his feelings of abandonment and deception by his father, and both women share how feelings of pain and betrayal affected them. Mel Davis acknowledges his anger and jealousy wounded his relationships. Today he still has magic in his hands decades after retirement, and works as a youth basketball coach, paying back for the gifts that basketball brought to his life. This Black family’s experience is one of hope and redemption, of the power to change, of overcoming the patterns of the past to forge new and strong family connections. Hubert Davis acknowledges “sometimes a new pattern emerges, a path allowing us to change our lives in a profound way.”

Awards

• Oscar nomination for Best Documentary, Short subjects