Schenectady’s Jamal Hill to debut film at Palace

Schenectady native Jamal Hill will be at Albany's Palace Theatre tonight for the local premiere of 'Brotherly Love,' which he wrote and directed.

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Jamal Hill is coming home to the Capital Region.

And he’s bringing a movie with him.

Schenectady native Hill will be at Albany’s Palace Theatre tonight for the local premiere of “Brotherly Love,” which he wrote and directed.

The show begins at 7 p.m., and Hill will still be around after the credits roll. A question-and-answer session will give audience members insight into the film’s production.

Shot in 2013, the 89-minute movie is set in Philadelphia. Siblings June, Sergio and Jackie (played by Cory Hardrict, Eric D. Hill Jr. and Keke Palmer, respectively) live in one of Philly’s roughest neighborhoods. Sergio’s basketball skills promise him an escape from the streets — and an escape from the fate that changed the life of his streetwise brother June. But the temptations of life in the ’hood might affect Sergio as well.

‘Brotherly Love’

WHERE: Palace Theatre, 19 Clinton Ave., Albany

WHEN: 7 tonight

HOW MUCH: $18

MORE INFO: 465-3334, www.palacealbany.com

Hill, who lived in Duanesburg until 1983, said the R-rated film is currently in limited release.

“It’s a coming-of-age story about choices and family, set on the backdrop of the street,” Jamal Hill said. “It’s not an all-out sports movie, it’s not an all-out crime movie. It’s about family, friends and choices.”

There’s a message that comes with the movie.

“The underlying theme and the message is, your choices will determine your character and your character will determine your destiny,” Hill said.

Hill wrote the movie in 2005 and has directed three other projects — “Streets” from 2011, “After Autumn” from 2007 and “Money, Power, Respect” from 2006. He has also acted in his projects, and appears as Lil Jay in “Brotherly Love.”

Hill loves the performances of his actors in the film, and is especially high on Palmer, Hardrict and Quincy Brown, who plays Jackie’s romantic interest.

Palmer has extensive TV and motion picture experience. She played the lead character in 2006’s acclaimed “Akeelah and the Bee” and was most recently seen as the nanny Coral in episodes of Showtime’s “Masters of Sex” series.

Reach Gazette reporter Jeff Wilkin at 395-3124 or at [email protected] or @jeffwilkin1 on Twitter. His blog is at www.dailygazette.com/weblogs/wilkin.