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04SF Fillmore Jazz DocumentaryProducer · Four Gold Tellys

They Can’t Take That Away: The Legacy of the Fillmore

A documentary about the era in the 1940s and ’50s when jazz and nightlife made San Francisco’s Fillmore district one of the great music neighborhoods in the country. Its legacy was swept away by misguided urban redevelopment, and preserved through the characters in this film and the work of journalist Elizabeth Pepin Silva and photographer Lewis Watts, who documented it in their book Harlem of the West. The documentary won four Gold Telly Awards and screened at the San Francisco Black Film Festival at the Roxie Theater.

They Can’t Take That Away: The Legacy of the FillmoreWatch on YouTube ↗
Charlie “Bird” Parker with his saxophone at Jimbo’s Bop City
Charlie Parker at Jimbo’s Bop City, early 1950sPhoto: Steve Jackson Jr.
I · The neighborhood

When the Fillmore swung

In the 1940s and ’50s, jazz and nightlife made the Fillmore one of the great music neighborhoods in the country. Clubs lined the street, and musicians played for a community that made the district its home.

Fillmore Street from above, busy with streetcars, shoppers and storefront signs
Fillmore Street toward Post, late 1940sPhoto: David Johnson
II · The loss

Swept away, remembered

Misguided urban redevelopment swept away much of that world, and its residents and businesses were displaced. Its legacy survives through the people in this film and the work of journalist Elizabeth Pepin Silva and photographer Lewis Watts, who documented it in their book Harlem of the West.

Lubna holding a Gold Telly Award
One of four Gold Tellys
III · The film

Four Gold Tellys

Produced at Bay Area Video Coalition with a grant from the City and County of San Francisco, the documentary won four Gold Telly Awards and screened at the San Francisco Black Film Festival at the Roxie Theater. We held a party and preview screening for the community at the legendary Boom Boom Room on Fillmore Street.

Watch the documentary ↗

From the Fillmore archive

1940s–1950s
Men outside Rhythm Records on Sutter Street, 1947
Rhythm Records on Sutter Street, 1947Photo: David Johnson
Lottie “The Body” Claiborne and Goose Tatum at a party at the Texas Playhouse, early 1950s
Party at the Texas Playhouse, early 1950sWesley Johnson II Collection
A guitarist and drummer perform in a Fillmore club
On the bandstandFrom the film
41st Annual Telly Awards, Gold Winner
Four Gold Telly Awards41st Tellys
San Francisco Black Film FestivalRoxie Theater
SF Independent Short Film FestivalOfficial selection · 2021

From the screenings

2020–2021
Poster for the screening at the Boom Boom Room
Boom Boom Room1601 Fillmore St · Feb 24, 2020
Official selection laurels, San Francisco Independent Short Film Festival 2021
The Roxie TheaterSept 17, 2021
Audience watching a screening
Community screeningScreening and discussion
Lubna holding a Gold Telly Award
Gold TellyOne of four

Contact

Get in touch

I’m open to select editorial and narrative contracts: flagship research, executive thought leadership, AI content workflows and documentary storytelling.

Connect on LinkedIn ↗ lubna dot takruri at gmail.com
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Lubna Takruri