The actor opens up about his new film, a soulful love story set against the backdrop of a rapidly changing Brooklyn, and why preserving community spaces is as urgent as ever.
Directed by Rachael Abigail Holder and starring André Holland, Nicole Beharie, DeWanda Wise, and Roy Wood Jr., Love, Brooklyn is a film about love, friendship, and creative ambition set against the backdrop of a rapidly shifting Brooklyn. It is grounded in a specific cultural lens, with music by Adi Oasis and Yaya Bey, and visuals that showcase local artists like Taha Clayton. It feels like a love letter to Black Brooklyn that is both tender and timely.
What makes this project feel even more personal is that Holland and Wise call Bed-Stuy home, and Holder grew up attending church in the neighborhood. There is a deep intentionality in how this film honors the borough’s legacy and creative spirit.
If films like Love Jones, Love & Basketball, Brown Sugar, Crooklyn, Do the Right Thing, or She’s Gotta Have It have shaped our cultural memory, Love, Brooklyn feels like a worthy contemporary companion: soulful, modern, and rooted in the nuances of Black love and life.
When I sat down with Holland, I wanted to talk not only about the film but also about the larger cultural stakes of telling stories like this. He reflected on how Brooklyn itself feels like a character in the film. “The city has a rhythm, a heartbeat, and that has always been part of what makes Brooklyn special,” Holland said. “We wanted to capture that energy while also asking questions about how it is changing and who gets to be part of its future.”
That tension between honoring legacy and confronting change runs throughout Love, Brooklyn . The film is filled with quiet, intimate moments between friends and lovers, but also with a clear awareness of the pressures that gentrification and cultural erasure place on communities.
I also asked Holland about his inspirations, mentioning his Criterion Collection video where he shared his top film picks, which included A Raisin in the Sun. He spoke with reverence about filmmakers like Charles Burnett and the importance of shining light on overlooked works. “We are standing on the shoulders of so many artists who came before us,” he said. “Part of this work is honoring them, and also creating opportunities for actors and storytellers to stretch in new ways.”
As someone who grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and often visited the city, I find myself drawn to stories about place, memory, and what it means to belong. Love, Brooklyn speaks to that yearning beautifully. It is a film that reminds us that love, in all its forms, is inseparable from community.
Love, Brooklyn opens at the Angelika in New York City on August 27, with a limited national release beginning September 5.
