If you are looking for a riveting, old-school mob war story that takes place on the modern-day streets of South Philly, Tim Dowlin has perfectly curated a moving picture for you.
Director and Philly native, Tim Dowlin, is premiering his film, Not For Nothing, at this year’s New York CineFest on May 6th.
This captivating film captures the real-life struggle of pain and grief that revolves around the South Philly crime scene.
In the past year, Not For Nothing premiered at the 2022 Philadelphia Film Festival, where the film was considered “one of the most authentic and refreshing films seen this year” by the judges. The film also received 1st place at last year’s Reading Pennsylvania Annual Film Festival for “Best Picture.”
The soaring success of this masterpiece cannot only be accredited to Tim and the phenomenal crew and cast.
Unfortunately, Frankie Tartaglia, the film’s co-writer, and co-director, passed away last November. His sudden passing left many in disbelief, but he is remembered for his creativity, warmth, and his approach to life that touched so many. Tom and the rest of the crew and cast proudly carry on the film in his honor and memory.
Tim and Frankie tell a modern-day Italian American mafia story based on real people living in South Philly. The film, starring Mark Webber and Lauren Lavera, surrounds a group of Italian and Irish American men who are intertwined in a troubling mob war after a local bar owner’s teenage daughter is found dead from a fentanyl overdose.
What makes this heartbreaking story hit so close to home for Philadelphia natives is the real-life drug epidemic within the city’s streets. “In 2021, Philadelphia had a total of 1,276 overdose deaths, according to data from the Philadelphia Department of Health. In addition, 82% of the 2021 overdose deaths in Philadelphia included fentanyl.”
When discussing the process of making this film, Dowlin says, “If you’re from Philly, you know someone who is battling with addiction and has overdosed. We wanted to tap into that, make that a motivating factor for revenge, for dealing with someone who is coming onto their turf and peddling poison.”
Tartaglia and Dowlin wanted to make this film as realistic as possible and, most importantly, shed light on the calamity of gang violence and drug use. Tartaglia said, “Tim wanted us to write a modern-day Italian American mafia movie that took place in south Philadelphia. I was interested in telling a story that involved these Italian American characters but without them being mafia assholes. I also didn’t want greed to be the motivation to set the characters into action. Eventually, after many discussions and thinking, we came upon the idea of the girl who overdoses on fentanyl and a gang of neighborhood guys who try to solve her suspicious death. Once we had that, we built the rest of the story around that.”
Not For Nothing tells an authentic story about the love of family and friendships, strong Italian American roots, and the trials of addiction and gang violence through two Philly Native’s lenses.
Come see the Premiere of this riveting film on May 6th at New York CineFest.
