SEASONS OF GLORY
In River Rouge, Michigan, basketball is more than a game. It is a source of pride, identity, and hope for a working-class community just outside Detroit. Seasons of Glory: The Story of River Rouge Basketball traces the extraordinary legacy of the River Rouge Panthers, one of Michigan’s most storied high school basketball programs. Through rich archival footage and memories of championship teams past, the film looks back at the players, coaches, and generations who transformed River Rouge into a basketball powerhouse. Against this history, the film follows a new generation of Panthers through a season of their own as they attempt to live up to that legacy and return the program to its glory days. Intimate and deeply rooted in community, Seasons of Glory is a coming-of-age story about brotherhood, ambition, resilience, and the enduring power of basketball to bind generations together.
THE TEAM
Hamoody Jaafar | Director and Producer
Hamoody Jaafar is a Detroit-based filmmaker whose work centers underrepresented communities and challenges cultural stereotypes through intimate, human stories. His feature documentary Seasons of Glory: The Story of River Rouge Basketball follows the legacy of a storied high school basketball program in River Rouge, Michigan, and screened at Hot Docs, the Freep Film Festival, and the Cleveland International Film Festival. His narrative short Detroit Diamond won Best Dramatic Short at Salute Your Shorts and screened at festivals across the country. A first-generation Arab and Muslim American raised in metro Detroit, Jaafar draws much of his storytelling from the diverse working-class communities that shaped him.
Razi Jafri | Producer
Razi Jafri is a Detroit-based documentary filmmaker and Senior Editor of Visual Features at NPR. His work explores democracy, identity, faith, and political power through intimate, character-driven storytelling. He directed Hamtramck, USA and produced the Independent Lens documentary Three Chaplains, and produced Seasons of Glory: The Story of River Rouge Basketball. His films have screened at major festivals including SXSW, Hot Docs, . Jafri is currently completing his feature documentary Uncommitted and developing projects through his production company, People First Productions.
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