LA’s Micheaux Film Fest To Open With World Premiere Of Stephan James Pic ‘Delia’s Gone’; Panels With Charlie Hunnam, AMPAS, Macro, Fremantle & Paramount

Andreas Wiseman
·13 min read

EXCLUSIVE: LA’s growing Micheaux Film Festival is to open with the Stephan James feature Delia’s Gone and will feature panels with Charlie Hunnam, AMPAS, Macro, Fremantle and Paramount. Scroll down for the lineup in full.

The fourth edition of the festival, which has a focus on BIPOC creators, will begin July 11th and run through July 17th at the Regal Cinemas L.A. Live in Downtown L.A. The event will close with Ryan Stevens Harris’s Moon Garden.

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In Delia’s Gone, starring James, Marisa Tomei, Travis Fimmel, Paul Walter Hauser and Genelle Williams, when a Black man with an intellectual disability is accused of his sister’s murder, he embarks on a journey to clear his name and find out who is responsible.

Throughout the week, panels will include a one-on-one career-spotlight conversation with Sons of Anarchy and Rebel Moon star Charlie Hunnam hosted by Jenelle Riley; a dialogue with The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, titled, The Academy 365, which will focus on membership eligibility, perks of membership, and how the voting process works; an Oprah Winfrey Network in-depth discussion on the success of the Love & Marriage franchise with creator and executive producer, Carlos King, along with Melody Holt, Tambra Cherie and Marie Hamilton-Abston.

Other panels will include ‘The Breaking in Again…Transitioning from Unscripted to Scripted (& Vice Versa)’ which will explore how to make a smooth transition from unscripted TV to scripted TV, featuring Vice President, Business and Legal Affairs at Fremantle US, Kimberlina McKinney; and sessions with TV/film editor Stephanie Filo; Macro TV Vice President, Ahmadou Seck; Paramount Global Unscripted Entertainment Franchises SVP Ben Hurvitz; Carolina Groppa – Executive in Charge of Production, ColorCreative; and moderator Carlton Jordan.

The lineup will also include Birdwatching, starring Amanda Seyfried; #BTSD featuring actress Tracie Thoms; Dot starring Mindy Sterling; and Artistic with NFL star Marshawn Lynch.

Also at the festival, Panavision will be awarding $90K to the best feature film and best short film project.

As we previously revealed, the festival will honor Bron Co-Founder and President Brenda Gilbert and Spike Lee collaborator Ernest Dickerson.

Festival founders and directors Noel Braham and Courtney Branch said: “As we rapidly grow and transform, so does the need to showcase disruptive and avant-garde work. Creators and emerging filmmakers need a safe space to spotlight their projects, while continuing to make meaningful and transformative art and the Micheaux Film Festival is the platform to serve as that haven.”

“Panavision is honored to partner with the Micheaux Film Festival again as a leading sponsor for the Outstanding Feature Film and Outstanding Short Film categories,” added Panavision President and CEO Kim Snyder. “We share the festival’s dedication to supporting, encouraging, and uplifting those who are underrepresented in the motion-picture industry. Through these grants for the award winners, we hope to foster opportunity and equity for BIPOC and multicultural filmmakers by equipping them with the tools to continue telling their stories.”

Additional festival sponsors include; Sony Pictures Entertainment (Sony Intersectional Marketing), The Oprah Winfrey Network, and Braham Entertainment. Community Partners include: The August Wilson African American Cultural Center, Blue Salmon Sky, Final Draft, Dr. Self Tapes, Wealth Garden Entertainment, Kalloway Films, Shicken Productions, HUE You Know and The Academy Museum.

Below is the latest lineup from the festival (final programming continues):

Opening Night

Delia’s Gone, Dir. Robert Budreau

A convicted man embarks on a journey of violence and redemption to find out the truth about his sister’s death.

Featured Talent: Stephan James, Oscar winner Marisa Tomei, and Paul Walter Hauser

 

Closing Night

Moon Garden, Dir. Ryan Stevens Harris

Following a terrible family accident, a young girl slips into a coma, finding herself thrust into a dark and surreal industrial wonderland. Haunted by a chattering nightmare that feeds off her negative emotions, the little girl must follow her mother’s voice on a transistor radio to find her way back to consciousness.

 

Narratives

Ghost Girl, Dir. Paavo Hanninen

On the night before she is set to leave New Orleans to audition for a high-budget television pilot in Los Angeles, Ashley must overcome her best friend and closest collaborator’s attempts to thwart her ambitions as this sudden opportunity reveals the long-festering differences between the two of them.

Featured Talent: Jamie Neumann

 

Thank You, Come Again, Dir. Nirav Bhakta

After the trigger of a hate crime, an undocumented Indian American convenience store clerk comes crashing into his subconscious as he grieves the passing of his father during an attempted border crossing.

 

The Pulpit: The Prelude, Dir. Tosin Morohunfola

When a progressive, midwestern pastor’s life is threatened by extremists, she must answer to a gang of interrogating FBI Agents as she reels from the trauma of terrorism.

Featured Talent: Tosin Morohunfola

 

The Whippersnappers, Dir. Ryan Cole

Withering away in the Germantown nursing home, The Oldheads grow tired of the same routine. One day, OG’s grandson, Chauncey, visits and gifts his elders with a smartphone. This smartphone has the power to make their greatest dream come true; to become young again, thus… The Whippersnappers are born!

 

Launch at Paradise, Dir. Carrie Ann Quinn

The lines between life and death become blurred for John as he takes the risk to live forever.

Featured Talent: Catherine Curtin

 

Double Play, Dir. Ernest Dickerson

Poverty and wealth are two sides of the same coin in a high stakes game of dominoes, where the players confront their lust, desperation, rage, and remorse with deadly consequences.

 

Nkemefuna, Dir. Kaelo Iyizoba

Nkem and her brother struggle through the anniversary of their father’s death, when an encounter forces them to confront their identity in America.

 

How to Do Sh!t w/Guido Gagootz, Dir. Adriano Valentini

Watch Guido Gaguzzi show you how to do sh!t!

Featured Talent: Sandro Iocolano

 

Hideout, Dir. Yen Kuang Chen

Drug dealer Guo-hao hopes to make enough money so that he and his girlfriend can leave their life of crime behind. One day, he is contacted by Michael, a drug broker with an offer to buy a batch of rare cocaine.

 

American Hero, Dir. Manny McCord

American Hero is a film about a female veteran contending with PTSD, an emotional trauma we typically associate with warfare. But as our story unfolds, we learn her trauma stems from sexual assault by a superior officer.

 

Pieces of A Memory, Dir. Kyle Alex Brett

From the podium of his wife’s funeral, a husband reads a eulogy, recalling the pieces of their forty-year marriage and one of their last afternoons together.

 

Hallelujah, Dir. Victor Gabriel

After being stuck with the guardianship of their annoying, bookworm nephew, two brothers in Compton CA have to decide if they are willing to take on the responsibility of being caretakers.

Featured Talent: Richard Nevels

 

Virginality, Dir. Vanna James

Virginality is an episodic series that chronicles the story of Jade Michelle Mason, a 30-ish overtly religious, single virgin who navigates adulthood with her millennial friends while finding her power in identity through her career and her untouched sexuality.

Featured Talent: Bria Samone Henderson

 

BLACK AS U R, Dir. Micheal Rice

BLACK AS U R is the first step in confronting the African American community about queerphobia, via the seering stories of queer black people.

 

Robyn Hood, Dir. NEEN

A sultry succubus steals the belongings of unsuspecting men to quench her insatiable thirst for their souls.

Featured Talent: Gail Bean

 

Alalia, Dir. Savannah Abrishamchian

A woman grapples with her sudden inability to speak which is triggered when reflecting on the former glory and fading light of her relationship.

 

Slow Pulse, Dir. Marshall Tyler

In this moving story of love and dedication, Bernard Brash heals and finds hope by learning how to dance.

Featured Talent: Jimmie Fails

 

PeloLove, Dir. Elohim Peña

Amid the pandemic, Alexis successfully found her true love despite quarantining alone. Today, for a modern love segment, a TV reporter interviews Alexis about the new long distance romance.

Featured Talent: Keisha Champagne

 

Fetish, Dir. Rhian Williams

An Asian American woman’s one night stand takes an unsexy turn when breakfast the morning after comes with a side of fetishism. Caught in a moment of truth, she’s forced to ponder her options for how to respond to casual racism.

 

Grace, Dir. Pokey Spears

Santino an undocumented immigrant, trapped in Los Angeles by an enterprising criminal, works as a ‘handyman’ at an ‘Anything Goes’ Massage parlor to pay off his debt, but the Decadence of the business, his unstable boss, his family left in Mexico, and an underage girl (Grace) forced into prostitution push him toward violent ends.

Featured Talent: Alessandra Liu, Joseph Lope

 

Leo, Dir. Treal Walker

Leo a former contract killer, tries to turn his life around after a horrible mistake. He soon finds out second chances aren’t always easy.

Featured Talent: Omar Gooding

 

Last Name Unknown, Dir. Dui Jarrod

Last Name Unknown is a dramatic series that examines the gripping reality of the growing youth homelessness crisis; as it follows several residents of the Beyond Hope Youth Shelter’s harsh, yet hopeful lives of beating the odds, finding their place in society, and living their distant dreams.

Featured Talent: Lindsey G. Smith

 

2020 Year of the Nurse, Dir. Robyn Roots

2020 Year of the Nurse is a documentary about Black nurses and practitioners in Virginia, New York, and other cities across the country. This project provides insight into how they fought to save lives from the devastating effects of Covid-19.

 

#SavageChatSeries, Dir. Brandon Dottin-Haley, Blair Dottin-Haley

The #BLAIRISMS goes live from Xavier University of Louisiana with journalist, producer and media icon, Soledad O’Brien to talk about her journey as a Black woman in media, her legacy and what she hopes for the rising generation of content creators.

Featured Talent: Soledad O’Brien

 

A Girl Named Mara, Dir. Jaime Zevallos

An aspiring vigilante on a mission to save an innocent suspect recruits a girl named Mara to be his sidekick, not realizing her true identity.

Featured Talent: Jaime Zevallos

 

Burnt Feathers, Broken Wings, Dir. Cady McClain

A documentary about four young girls in the foster care system who are on a mission to shatter stereotypes and overcome their past.

 

Tundra, Dir. José Luis Aparicio

Walfrido Larduet, a lonely electrical inspector, dreams of the Red Woman, whose image persists and becomes an obsession. Something tells him she is near.

 

Five, Dir. David Orantes

At the age of 16, Malcolm was convicted of reckless homicide. While inside he converted to Islam, and after 7 years he is released. Now 23 years old, with no diploma, no work history, and no place to go, he returns to his childhood home seeking the forgiveness of his Mother.

Featured Talent: Jacob Gibson

 

Nomadic, Dir. Kyle Sykes

On a journey of self exploration to find himself in Los Angeles, a young man goes around visiting cornerstones of the black community: the barbershop, the farmers market, Leimert Park. Underneath we hear a poem about how this world has shaped his internal identity.

Featured Talent: Niles Finch

 

Beyond Ed Buck, Dir. Jayce Baron, Hailie Sahar

Follows the tragic murders that took place at the hands of Democratic political donor, Edward Buck.

 

Mixed Girl, Dir. Josiane Des Gray Desir

Raised in a small racially divided town, Leslie, a white alcoholic, drug-addicted and vicious teenage mother falls for James, an African-American college student she meets at a fraternity party. They battle to overcome her traumatic childhood as they bridge the gap between their two different worlds.

Featured Talent: Jermaine “J Young MDK” Carter

 

Run Nixon, Dir. Sky Directs

When 10 year old Nixon is diagnosed with life-threatening chronic heart failure, two young parents Dre & Stacy must figure out how to cover costs and save his life. Limited with time, Stacy takes matters into her own hands and decides to rob a well known drug dealer. This puts Nixon in yet another dangerous situation and causes him to be kidnapped. Thrust back into his old ways, Dre must turn to the streets to save his son, before it’s too late.

Featured Talent: Dreux “Lil Fizz” Frederic

 

The Well, Dir. Gerald “Bam” Whaley

The Well is a story of 17 year old Tasha Fields who is fighting for her life, caught in the middle of a deadly domestic dispute between her parents.

Featured Talent: Freddy Giorlando

 

My Asian, Dir. Jami Rambera

My Asian is a poetic rallying cry, highlighting the horrific miscarriages of justice that Asian-Americans and Asians in America are, and have historically been subjected to: from day-to-day micro-aggressions to actual acts of violence and terror against members of our community.

 

For Sale, Dir. Nika King

For Sale is a short film that addresses mental health in the African American community by telling an intimate story through the lens of a young married couple.

 

Fever, Dir. Angele Cooper

“FEVER” is a psychological thriller that follows Jay, who after a series of violent events, escapes his racist family to embark on a new life with his Black boyfriend, Andre. While taking a pit stop to celebrate Andre’s mother’s 50th birthday, Jay’s mental health unravels as he faces the realities of his interracial relationship and the dangers of his whiteness.

Featured Talent: Janet Hubert

 

Black Butterflies, Dir. Tamara S. Hall

A woman who’s haunted by the ailing health of her postpartum sister is confronted with a fight to save her sister and ultimately, herself.

 

Keep/Delete, Dir. Kryzz Gautier

In a future world where memories are handled like computer files, two lovers decide to undergo a procedure and have their entire relationship wiped from their brains.

 

40ish…, Dir. Traci Hays

A 40-year-old actress , refuses to give up her dream of “making it,” in Hollywood, but 20 years later, she won’t face the reality, that age and how many followers you have, dictates the rules for talent and and when she lands her big break, she struggles to tell the truth, when casting demands to know her “real age,” before they’ll hire her for the role.

 

Last Patrol on Okinawa, Dir. Nick Brokaw

Set on the fateful date; August 6th, 1945. Okinawa. Six weeks post-battle, a squad of U.S. Marines is assigned the unenviable and tedious job of clearing caves where fanatical Japanese soldiers hold out and forlorn Okinawan civilians seek refuge.

Featured Talent: Jeremy John Wells, Hunter Doohan

 

Black in Hollywood, Dir. Brandon Miree

‘Black in Hollywood,’ is a docu-series that celebrates Black Excellence in the lives of creatives living and working in Hollywood. In an interview format, it aims to explore misconceived notions of working in the industry, the intersectionality of ‘blackness’ in film and television, and the ups and downs of their unique journeys.

 

SOUND, Dir. Tawan Bazemore

Photographer Isabelle Pisano becomes hearing-impaired after a violent car accident. As she struggles to cope in the muffled and scary new normal something beautifully-terrifying happens…

 

Sparkles, Dir. Jacqueline Pelczar

A 37-year-old woman with down syndrome runs away from home and embarks on a journey from Kalgoorlie to Perth.

 

If These Locs Could Talk, Dir. Jahbrielle Henning

This film explores the importance and connections African Americans have with dreadlocks. Everyone has a story to tell but the commonality we have is the journey of learning more about ourselves through our hair.

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