Lovett Hines isn't a household name, but you're familiar with his work. The Philadelphia music teacher has mentored celebrated artists like Christian McBride, Immanuel Wilkins, Bilal Oliver, Derrick Hodge, Justin Faulkner and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, making him, in a way, responsible for 20 Grammys and an Oscar. 

His famous pupils are now training the spotlight back on him in a new documentary short playing at the BlackStar Film Festival on Sunday. "The Philadelphia Sensei: Lovett Hines" is an ode to creativity and care from first-time director Donn Thompson Morelli, better known as Donn T.

MORE: While Philly's marquee events are over, some improvements the city made for 2026 are here to stay

"I just became so curious about the gap there between the visibility of the artist and the visibility of the person who helped shape them," she said. "I also, right alongside that, was drawn to this idea of legacy through others and how one person can influence culture without necessarily being centered in it."

Donn T may be new to directing, but she's long inhabited Hines' world. The singer-songwriter grew up in a musical household in West Philly, penning her first song at the age of 9. Her father Arthur Lee Andrew Thompson fronted the doo-wop group Lee Andrews & the Hearts, and later formed the band Congress Alley with her mother Jacqui, a dancer. Her brother Questlove grew into one of Hines' star pupils.

The director herself didn't learn from the "sensei," who created the education program at Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts. But Hines asked Donn T to tell his story about two and a half years ago. While she was initially skeptical, to her own surprise, she quickly came up with an idea outside her usual wheelhouse.

"I closely identify with being a storyteller," Donn T explained. "That's how I've accessed my creativity. I tell stories through songs and the written word and production and live performance and had, up until that point, expressed myself in that way. But there was something about this story that required something more. I felt like faces and voices and silence and visuals ... it required film."

For her first foray into the medium, Donn T wanted to create an intimate and visually arresting space on screen. Recalling her positive experience as a subject in the PBS series "Articulate," she hired an editor (Mark Miller) and a cinematographer (Tom Contarino) from that project for hers. She also commissioned Philly artist Jeff Manning to create original graphics that appear throughout the documentary. When filming Hines and her other subjects, Donn T strove for rich tones and depth. Making them look beautiful, she said, was a statement itself.

"Black men are not perceived on the landscape as beautiful within culture," she said. "And warm and loving and kind and caring. That was a part of what I wanted to elevate."

As she delved deeper into the story, Donn T sought to answer the obvious question: What was it about Hines that inspired so many acclaimed students? She expected to hear a lot of technical, even "mathematical" explanations of his gifts, but what she found instead was an emphasis on love and care. Those elements — the "foundation" of Hines' educational technique, in Donn T's estimation — became the throughline of the documentary.

"The Philadelphia Sensei" will continue on the festival circuit after BlackStar, making a stop at the Martha's Vineyard African American Film Festival next. (Questlove is also screening his Earth, Wind and Fire documentary there in a "fun first" for the collaborative siblings.) But Donn T hasn't quite closed the book on Hines. She envisions the short as a "proof of concept" for a larger project, like a feature film or docuseries, that explores the teacher's artistry and influence on a grander scale.

"His impact is deeply felt worldwide," she said. "But he's not documented in that way. He's largely unsung, until now."

This article previously stated the Robert Glasper was a student of Lovett Hines. He is featured in 'The Philadelphia Sensei' but was not a student.

Follow Kristin & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @kristin_hunt | @thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice
Have a news tip? Let us know.