Think back to last September, and you may recall that filmmaker and Bernal neighbor Joe Talbot took home the coveted Best of Bernal award at the 2014 Bernal Heights Outdoor Cinema festival for the impressive concept-teaser video he produced for his film, “The Last Black Man in San Francisco.”

Well, after that, Neighbor Joe and his co-producer and star actor Jimmie Fails got lots and lots of media attention, and last weekend they launched a Kickstarter campaign to produce a feature-length version of their film:

The Last Black Man in San Francisco is a feature-length narrative film currently in pre-production that is inspired by the real life of Jimmie Fails, a third-generation San Franciscan, who dreams of buying back his old family home in the Fillmore.

But this film isn’t just about tough economic times and changing political landscapes in San Francisco. It’s a story about two inseparable misfits who are searching for home in a city they can no longer call their own.

Joe Talbot (writer/director) grew up running around the Mission District with a camera around his neck and a gang of misfits in tow. His cobbled-together crews of friends, family and other various undesirables wreaked constant havoc on the neighborhood, pushing wheelchairs down busy streets for tracking shots and alarming random passerby with fake blood make-up.

When Jimmie moved to the nearby Army St. housing projects as a pre-teen, he was promptly dragged into Joe’s film-making fold. The two boys soon began collaborating on just about everything, including Joe’s SFIFF winning short, Last Stop Livermore. […]

During many late-night walks through the roller-coaster hills of Bernal Heights, Jimmie spun tales of his often stranger-than-fiction childhood — like the time he and his father made a beat-up BMW their home (until his dad’s crack buddy stole it).

These conversations around Jimmie’s struggle to regain his roots in his native city became the basis for LBM. But it’s about more than buying back a piece of property — inspired by the bond Joe and Jimmie formed as teens over feeling like misfits in their respective worlds, this film seeks to tell an ageless story about two friends trying to find their place in the world.

It will come as no surprise to anyone who saw this team’s original concept-teaser, but the video created to support the Last Black Man in San Francisco Kickstarter campaign is an enticing piece of work unto itself:

Let’s help make this happen — and support a rising Bernal talent along the way. You can donate to the Last Black Man in San Francisco Kickstarter campaign right here.

IMAGES:  Last Black Man in San Francisco