Jonathan Olshefski's New Documentary QUEST Opens 12/15 in LA, Nominated for Two Spirit Awards

First Run Features is proud to announce the Los Angeles premiere of Quest, Jonathan Olshefski's moving chronicle of a close knit African-American family living in North Philadelphia. The film will open in Los Angeles on December 15 at Laemmle's Monica Film Center following the New York premiere on December 8 at The Quad.

This fine film has just been nominated for two Spirit Awards for Best Documentary and Truer Than Fiction Award.
Both of these category titles couldn't be more appropriate, as this film was over a decade in the making, and brought together an interesting filmmaking team, director Jonathan Olshefski, named one of the "25 New Faces in Independent Film" by Filmmaker Magazine this year, and as one of "The 9 New Directors You Need to Watch" by the New York Times, who made his debut feature documentary at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival; and producer Sabrina Schmidt Gordon, an Emmy award-winning documentary producer, editor and director of Documented (2013), and of Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes.

Filmed with vérité intimacy for almost a decade, Quest has swept top documentary awards at festivals across the country since it premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, including the Grand Jury prize at the Full Frame Festival.

Beginning at the dawn of the Obama presidency, the film follows the Raineys: father Christopher "Quest" Rainey, who juggles various jobs to support his family; Christine'a "Ma Quest," who works at a women's shelter; Christine'a's son William, who is undergoing cancer treatment while caring for his baby son; and PJ, Quest and Christine'a's young daughter. In a neighborhood besieged by inequality and neglect, they nurture a community of hip hop artists in their home music studio. It's a safe space where all are welcome, but this creative sanctuary can't always shield them from the strife that grips their neighborhood. Epic in scope, Quest is a vivid illumination of race and class in America, and a profound testament to love, healing and hope.

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