As Black women filmmakers continue carving out space in an industry that has often overlooked their voices, Memphis filmmaker and screenwriter Teresa Dickerson is stepping onto a national stage with a story rooted deeply in the city she loves — Memphis. Her feature film, “Hoop Street,” has been selected to screen at the 30th anniversary of the American Black Film Festival, becoming one of only 11 films selected in the U.S. Narrative Features category. The screening is scheduled for Friday, May 29, at O Cinema in Miami Beach, Fla.
For Dickerson, the accomplishment represents more than a career milestone. It is the realization of a creative vision years in the making — one fueled by Memphis, basketball, faith, resilience and the determination to tell stories often left untold.
For young audiences wrestling with pressure, trauma and uncertainty, Dickerson hopes the film offers both encouragement and affirmation.
“Go after your dream. Don’t settle for less than what you were created on earth to become. You were created to bring light and love to the spaces you enter,” she said.
Dickerson’s journey into filmmaking did not begin in Hollywood. It began in Memphis corporate spaces, NBA offices and around family storytelling traditions that shaped how she understood emotion, struggle, humor and humanity. Before founding Isaiah 54 Films, she spent years working in media relations and community investment with the Memphis Grizzlies and in corporate affairs with Kroger.
Those roles gave her “a front row seat to the power of storytelling,” Dickerson said. “But, to be honest, I grew up listening to family members tell the most powerful, colorful stories about life.”
What began in 2006 as a hobby, testing whether her journalism skills could translate into screenwriting, evolved into something far more personal.
“Once I found the right screenwriting software, I decided to learn more about the craft,” she said. “I learned that it was a bit more than a hobby. It became my passion.”
That passion ultimately became “Hoop Street,” a sports drama centered on Mason James, played by Benjamin Holmes, a talented but troubled teenager suspended from his high school basketball team because of his temper. Fighting trauma, anger and personal demons, Mason seeks redemption through a summer basketball league and one final opportunity to secure a college basketball scholarship.
Dickerson said the character is intentionally symbolic.
“I named the main character Mason and he represents Memphis,” she explained. “I wanted Mason to be tough as nails and most often angry, but he is actually a kind-hearted person who is trying to be happy and reach his goals.”
In many ways, Memphis itself becomes another character in the film.
“With ‘Hoop Street,’ I wanted to capture the texture of the city — like its resilience, creativity, humor, struggle, and sense of community that exist in neighborhoods people don’t always see represented authentically,” Dickerson said. “The goal wasn’t just to use Memphis as a backdrop, but to let the city itself become part of the emotional fabric of the story.”
The film was directed by Princeton James and produced through a collaboration between Isaiah 54 Films and Gravity Productions. Nearly 100 percent of the cast, crew and soundtrack artists are from Memphis.
That decision, Dickerson said, was intentional from the start.
“I wanted to give Memphians the opportunity to go for their dreams in this field,” she said. “That’s why it makes me so proud to have nearly 20 of our cast and crew join me in Miami, made possible by the support of the Donnell Cobbins Jr. Futures Trust.”
Dickerson said one of the most emotional moments came during casting. “To hear them acting out words I wrote, was emotional,” she said.
The film’s path to national recognition included selection by the Memphis and Shelby County Film and Television Commission to participate in the Porretta Terme Film Festival in Italy before landing at ABFF, one of the nation’s premier Black film festivals and an Oscar-qualifying festival.
“It was surreal,” Dickerson said of learning “Hoop Street” had been selected. “To be one of 11 U.S. Narrative Feature selections, is such a blessing.”
The moment also places Dickerson among a growing number of Black women filmmakers reshaping how Black communities, Black families and Black resilience are portrayed on screen. Rather than centering stereotypes or sensationalism, “Hoop Street” leans into humanity, vulnerability and hope.
“I also hope the project contributes to the growing filmmaking community in Memphis by showing that meaningful, high-quality stories can be developed and produced here,” Dickerson said. “There’s so much talent in the city, both in front of and behind the camera, and I think audiences are hungry for stories that feel specific and honest.”
And for aspiring Black women filmmakers watching her breakthrough unfold, Dickerson says, “Sometimes, it’s hard to take a leap of faith, especially when betting on yourself. Do it anyway. Do it afraid.”
