Russell Stewart: "Sons of Detroit" Featured in Screenings at Cinetopia, DIA

Sons of Detroit, a new film co-produced by Russell Stewart (BFA ​’07), will screen on May 14 at Ann Arbor’s Michigan Theater as the Opening Night feature at the Cinetopia Film Festival. Later that week, the film will have its Detroit première on May 17 at the Detroit Institute of Arts’ Detroit Film Theatre.

Sons of Detroit was recently selected as one of the top 10 films at DOC NYC Film Festival 2025 by Indiewire. The film follows Jeremy Xido, a white man who was raised by a Black family in Detroit. After 20 years away, Jeremy returns home and tracks down his cousin Boo, but they find themselves devastated when they discover that the house that they grew up in, once a pillar of the community, is now dilapidated and in turmoil: some family members have passed away, and others are scattered about the surrounding Metro Detroit area.

Sons of Detroit is a film that investigates the destruction afflicted on families and communities when histories are silenced, hidden behind shame or fear because they are violent or inconvenient. It offers a vision of what happens when we listen deeply, investigate history with open eyes, and reach out to one another with open hearts and harness the ability to receive tough love.