photo by steed media service

Though the two siblings’ lives intersected infrequently as adolescents, growing up with entirely different experiences on opposite sides of the North American continent, Ani and Hashim Williams’ lives were inextricably interwoven by a common passion: filmmaking. Remarkably, they pursued careers on the big and small screens without either one realizing what the other was doing. In time, however, their talents intersected to form the California-based film company, Gumbo Productions. That familial union has produced the short film Aquarium, which won an honorable mention at the Sundance Film Festival. “Our mother is a straight-laced, very conservative, suburban [woman],” says Hashim, who lived with his father. “And our father isn’t,” added Ani as they both laughed. “[Hashim] definitely got to learn the world.” Ironically, the East Coast-raised Ani went to film school at the University of Southern California, while the West Coast-reared Hashim studied at Howard University in Washington, D.C. They start and finish each other’s sentences fluidly, as if they’ve lived together all their lives. Much of their connection stems from the fact that both filmmakers thrive on delving headfirst into controversial or taboo subjects such as the ‘down low,’ faith and redemption, and even murder. “The best way I can [explain this] is [that] we care about really good stories and quality. And the whole reason why we both got into this is because the world is made up of so many different people and so many different stories,” Ani says. Hashim finishes, “Well, what it all comes down to is the heart and human nature. That’s why our production company is called Gumbo, because it’s a little bit of everything. And that’s what makes up our universe.” –terry shropshire

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