‘Killer Bees’ documentary explores hoop dreams in the Hamptons

The movie uses basketball as a way to explore how Bridgehampton’s African-American community is being squeezed out by new development and rising real-estate prices.

By Rafer Guzmá[email protected] @raferguzman
July 23, 2018 6:57 PM

 

In his senior year at Bridgehampton School, Jamari Gant finally decided to try out for its famed basketball team, the Killer Bees. An affable kid who had honed his skills during lunch periods at East Hampton schools before transferring to Bridgehampton’s two-story, pre-kindergarten-through-12th-grade school as a freshman, Gant made the cut but then found the pressure was on. Not only would the Killer Bees attempt to defend its state championship title that year — without its star player, who had left the team — but a documentary crew had signed up to film the Bees’ 2015-2016 season from start to finish.

“I was like, ‘Oh, great — the first time I’m ever going to be playing, and I’m being recorded,’ ” Gant says. Privately, though, he had more pressing concerns. He and his family — his mother and five siblings — were in the process of being evicted from their home.

Read more here and watch Newsday original video on the making of the film:

https://projects.newsday.com/entertainment/killer-bees-bridgehampton-documentary/