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6/3/2019 Local filmmaker, SCAD students take home best student film at Charlotte film festival with timely short movieRead NowThank you Asha and Zach for this wonderful article about our film 'MLK JR BLVD' and for doing your thorough reporting. Congratulations again to the cast and crew of the film, I had a great time directing and working with you all. To everyone that has been supportive, thank you very much. Huge thanks again to the Charlotte Black Film Festival. Click the link to read the article. 'Local filmmaker, SCAD students take home best student film at Charlotte film festival with timely short movie', https://www.savannahnow.com/entertainmentlife/20190602/local-filmmaker-scad-students-take-home-best-student-film-at-charlotte-film-festival-with-timely-short-movie READ FULL ARTICLE BELOW PHOTOA heads up would have been suitable, but winning the award made up for the shock for Kareem McMichael.
“Winning the award was a surprise because I didn’t even know we were nominated,” McMichael said with a chuckle. “To have it recognized was exciting because we all worked really hard on this.” “MLK JR. BLVD” film took home the best student film prize at the 9th annual Charlotte Black Film Festival in Charlotte, N.C., in April. McMichael was on hand to accept the award and said the experience of garnering feedback from the audience was remarkable. “Just the sharing it part because after the film (screening) when I did a Q&A with around 30 or so people in the room, it was good and I was happy to do it. But even some of the people on the (festival) committee who saw the film and came up to me afterwards, just to have that dialogue about something that, again, is very real for people.” The film’s subject matter certainly hits home for people across the country — and becomes even more prescient recently in Savannah. Following DeAndre, played by SCAD graduate Darius Johnson, the film sees his father, a police officer, killed in the line of duty and what happens in the aftermath of his father’s death. According to the film’s release, “with tones of underlying racial tension and stereotypes, the short film explores negative perceptions surrounding race relations and DeAndre’s struggle to find himself, but he does find ways to express himself through art and music.” McMichael said the subject matter hit for the festival committee whether they had a background in law enforcement or not.“If you know a police officer and know what they have to do on a regular basis and then (if you know) a person like DeAndre who is dealing with that conflict of ‘I know I have someone working as a police officer to protect and serve’ but then there is the other fold that are you scared too because of the dangers that cops have going on with their own lives.” The movie filmed in and around the Savannah area, incorporating a lot of the natural tension happening in the city. While McMichael wasn’t originally on the project (he joined the others in 2017), the formation of the film started as far back as 2016 when then-SCAD student Chad Penchion was working on the script. After wrestling with how to approach the film for a couple years, another SCAD student, Shruti Kalsi, came aboard as a producer on the film as well as editor and production designer. Kalsi said the subject matter was important, and that led her to being interested in the film. “Given the society that we are in at the moment, (discrimination) is definitely an issue that is going on,” she said. “It is definitely an of the moment film and one that sparks conversation.” Kalsi helped bring the story to life more behind the scenes than in front of, or directly behind, the camera. As a film and television production student with an emphasis in producing at SCAD, Kalsi said she had to take her training to help shepherd the film into a final product. “We did not have as much time and (the production) became stressful because we were not a big crew and it would become a little hectic at points, but I think all of it paid off well because it got a great reception,” she said. “People were able to connect to the content and then they were able to emotionally feel in that sense.” The collaborative process was deep for both McMichael and Kalsi as other Savannah College of Art and Design students and alumni helped out with the film. Greyson Harris, a SCAD student, played DeAndre’s friend and provided artwork displayed in the movie while Nathan Lienau and Jeremiah Adams scored the film along with Georgia Southern University student Kit Tillis. McMichael said Kalsi would send him work done by students she knew and others she had worked with, but he especially enjoyed figuring out the look of the film with director of photography, and current SCAD senior, JonRoss Maddox. “He and I clicked immediately...you can tell with someone’s spirit. He was very easy-going and loved the script,” McMichael said. “He had already read (the script) so when we met for the first time, he was already creating a shot list idea and I was like, ‘funny, I was having similar ideas already too.’” Kalsi said she was impressed with the way Penchion, Lineau, Adams and Tillis were able to incorporate a unique score to the final film. ”(Penchion) had the ideas to add jazz hop music and how it would be portrayed because a lot of student projects don’t focus on incorporating original music as much,” she said. “Sound designing is an aspect of film people don’t pay a lot of attention to, but that is one of the strongest points in ‘MLK JR. BLVD’ is that the sound was so good, and it complimented the visuals perfectly.” After appearing at the Charlotte Black Film Festival, “MLK JR. BLVD” has been submitted to a number of other film festivals and was a semi-finalist at the 2018 Los Angeles Cinefest. |
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