Philadelphia graduate returns home as an award-winning producer

From his days as a Philadelphia high school student, riding the bus 21/2 hours to get a better education, Thomas Oliver was on the move, determined to make it.

Last week, the 27-year-old returned to his hometown as the globe-trotting producer of an award-winning film shown at Philadelphia's CineFest.

Kinyarwanda, which won a World Cinema audience award at the Sundance festival in January and now holds the CineFest Jury award for Best First Film, weaves together six stories based on true accounts of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

In 2001, The Inquirer wrote about Oliver as a student who showed what is possible under the district's voluntary desegregation program. His mother was in recovery from drug addiction and his father was not often present, the story said. His participation in the program allowed the West Oak Lane student to attend George Washington High School in the Far Northeast rather than Martin Luther King High, which did not have the classes he wanted.

"I wouldn't wish it on anyone," Oliver said last week of the challenges he faced. "But you deal with it and you move on, and you just focus on the work. You focus on moving forward."

Oliver said he thrived at Washington, encouraged by supportive teachers and challenging courses. He went on to study economics and digital media at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and took a job with Microsoft Corp. after graduation, from which he saved money that he would use to start his film career.

Early last week, Kinyarwanda - the name refers to a Rwandan dialect - was shown at the Painted Bride Art Center. Two days later, it was screened at the Ritz East. He was surprised to be so nervous, he said.

"I actually couldn't watch it. The projector was super-dark and the theater wasn't packed . . . so I just went down the street, had a cup of tea, read the newspaper, and came back afterward," he said.

To Oliver's relief, both screenings were followed by lively question-and-answer sessions and praise for the film's humanizing a brutal period.

While in town, Oliver also talked to students at Washington, encouraging them to aim high. He lives on the West Coast and plans to move to Los Angeles when he's done touring the festivals.

His family and friends are basking in his successes. His mother, who he said has conquered her problems, attended the screenings to show her support, along with his grandmother, younger sister, and aunts. Members of his former church were there as well.

"They were all emotional and hugging me and kissing, and saying how they were really impressed by the film," Oliver said.

He said he had some projects lined up, among them a semiautobiographical script he wrote based on his trials with his mother.

Though Oliver says he's much more of a "story and idea guy" than a writer, he considers that a story that needs to be told – and the catharsis is just a bonus.

"I sent it to [actor] Terence Howard's people. They're reading it now," he said.