Oscar-winning film writer and director Kevin Willmott will discuss his work during a presentation at the 向日葵视频 City Museum of Art following a screening of his retro comedy film 鈥淒estination: Planet Negro!鈥� at 8 p.m. March 13. The event is free to the public and is co-sponsored by the 向日葵视频 City University Film Institute and the 向日葵视频 City Museum of Art. It will be held in the museum鈥檚 .
Willmott is known for work focusing on issues of race. He has collaborated with Spike Lee on 鈥淐hi-Raq鈥� and 鈥淏lacKKKlansman,鈥� which was awarded the 2018 Cannes Grand Prix, the 2019 American Academy and British Academy of Film awards for Best Adapted Screenplay, the Best Screenplay Award of the African-American Film Critics Association, and was named in many critics鈥� top-10 lists for the year. He is working with Lee again on an upcoming Vietnam-era story titled 鈥淒a 5 Bloods.鈥� He also wrote the stage play 鈥淏ecoming Martin鈥� about Martin Luther King Jr.鈥檚 early years.
Willmott grew up in Junction City, Kansas, and studied drama at Marymount College. After graduation, he returned home where he began working as a peace and civil rights activist as he fought for the rights of the poor, created two Catholic Worker shelters for the homeless, and forced the integration of several long-standing segregated institutions. He then went on to study film at NYU鈥檚 Tisch School of the Arts, where he received several writing awards and his MFA in dramatic writing and joined his interests in creative activity and social justice. Willmott is a professor of film and media studies at the University of Kansas.
For more information about the presentation and screening, visit the film institute鈥檚 website at .
Description of 鈥淒estination: Planet Negro!鈥� from the Candy Factory Films production company:
In 1939, leaders of the Black community in America come up with a secret solution to the problems of racism and discrimination 鈥� leave the planet! They launch a rocketship with three astronauts 鈥� the intrepid Professor Avery; his beautiful and intelligent daughter Beneatha; and crack test pilot 鈥淩ace鈥� Johnson 鈥� to claim the planet Mars. Will these brave explorers make it to 鈥淧lanet Negro鈥�? What lies on the other side of the wormhole they fall into on the way?
Kevin Willmott鈥檚 work:
Film
- 鈥淣inth Street鈥� (1999) 鈥� director, writer, producer, actor
- 鈥淒as Bus鈥� (2003) 鈥� self
- 鈥淭he Search for Inflata-boy鈥� (2003) 鈥� actor
- 鈥淭he Fascist of X-Mart鈥� (2003) 鈥� actor
- 鈥淐.S.A.: The Confederate States of America鈥� (2004) 鈥� director, writer
- 鈥淲aiting for the Son鈥� (2007) 鈥� actor
- 鈥淏unker Hill鈥� (2008) 鈥� director, writer, producer
- 鈥淭he Only Good Indian鈥� (2008) 鈥� director, producer
- 鈥淒estination: Planet Negro!鈥� (2013) 鈥� director, writer
- 鈥淛ayhawkers鈥� (2013) 鈥� director, writer, producer
- 鈥淐hi-Raq鈥� (2015) 鈥� co-writer
- 鈥淏lacKkKlansman鈥� (2018) 鈥� co-writer
- 鈥淚, Too, Sing America: Langston Hughes Unfurled鈥� (documentary, in production) 鈥� co-director
- 鈥淒a 5 Bloods鈥� (feature, in production) 鈥� co-writer
Television
- 鈥淭he 鈥�70s鈥� (2000) 鈥� writer
- 鈥淗igh Tech Lincoln鈥� (2005) 鈥� producer
Theater
- 鈥淏ecoming Martin鈥� (2018) 鈥� writer
