Detroit News

'Resurgo chronicles Detroit's spirit

20 years in the making, Stephen McGees doc heads to Ann Arbor

Stephen McGee has spent so long making his Detroit documentary Resurgo, he's been filming it for 20 years, and shaping it for at least the last 10 that he's having a hard time walking away from the project.

As the city it documents lives and breathes, so does the film, and McGee isn't quite ready to lock in his final edit. Even after showing the film several times, he's still tinkering with it, adding in a quote here or a few frames of footage there every time he shows it to a new audience.

"It's hard to know when a 20-year project is done," says McGee, who has been documenting Detroit since he moved to the city in 2005. “Each screening is a new way to see the life of this film and where it should go, or how it's going to live.”

His next screening is Friday, Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor. It will be his biggest screening yet, following late 2025 showings at the Emagine Royal Oak and the Fresh Coast Film Festival in Marquette, where "Resurgo" was awarded the festival's Best Feature prize.

McGee, 44. describes "Resurgo" — the title is Latin for "I rise again" as a "visual symphony of humanity." It covers the Motor City's history and its rise and and McGee talks to residents and civic leaders about the citv's character, restlience, spirit and resolve.

……..