Looking for some good times? This year’s Jxn Film Festival has you covered in more ways than one.
The festival, which will mark its fourth year when it takes place July 21-26, is headlined by a celebration of the trailblazing TV series Good Times, which turns 50 in 2024. Created by legendary producer and writer Norman Lear, it was one of the first sitcoms to center around a black family.
“Like a lot of Norman Lear shows, it didn’t shy away from controversial issues, like gang violence, single-parent homes and economic struggles,” Jxn Film Festival Executive Director Maximus Wright said. “To see them face their problems together as a family resonated with black viewers at the time.”
The festival will open July 21 with An Evening with Thelma, a special event featuring actress Bern Nadette Stanis, one of the principal cast members of the beloved series, who will recount memories from the set. This event is a $50 ticket separate from regular festival admission. A panel featuring filmmakers and scholars discussing the legacy and importance of Good Times will follow on Monday night, July 22.
The majority of the festival’s events will be held at Tougaloo College, a new venue for the festival.
“The reason for choosing Tougaloo is twofold,” Wright said. “Our core team, (Gala Director) Esther Young and (Festival Director) Candice Love Jackson, we’re all graduates of Tougaloo. We saw an opportunity to bring more attention to our college. We held another event last year for the Entertainment Industry College Outreach Program (EICOP) that was very successful, and we liked the way it felt, so we said why don’t we do it again. And this time we’re giving back by donating part of our proceeds to the college.”
Film screenings will take place July 22-25, and will include narrative and documentary shorts and features, as well as music videos. Each day the screenings are coupled with table readings.
“That’s one thing we’re doing different this year, so the audience can get a feel of what the scripts nominated for awards are like,” Wright said.
There are several films screening made either made by Mississippi filmmakers or filmed in the state. Here’s a few highlights:
On July 22 at 2:50 p.m., you can catch Food Apartheid, a documentary short by Jackson filmmaker Dr. Wilma Clopton that posits a correlation between lack of access to healthy food and systemic factors like redlining in black communities in central Mississippi.
“I used the word ‘apartheid’ because in my research I found there to be a conscious effort to not provide access to healthy food in specific communities,” Clopton said. “I’m excited to have been selected for the festival because it’s an honor for my work to be recognized in my hometown.”
On July 23 at 12:40 p.m., the narrative short film Hotaru will be featured. The film was written by Jackson natives Ashley and Amy Gibson and filmed in the metro area. Ashley is known for her documentary The Fearless 11, about the integration of Provine High School in Jackson.
To realize their vision, the sisters worked with Herman ‘J.R.’ Johnson of Jackson’s Story Mode Productions. Johnson is also known as an actor in numerous New Stage Theatre productions and a starring role in the made-in-Mississippi film Texas Red.
Johnson directed, produced, edited and wrote original music for the short. The film is nominated for Best Short, Best Director and Best Score at the festival.
“It’s a very touching story of a young black girl in the denial stage of grief,” he said. “I think it’s some of the best work I’ve done, especially as a director, so it means a great deal to me to be recognized. Hopefully this film will inspire others to make their own. I’m especially proud of it because I was hired to create a culture for this project. I think though the cast and crew came from all over, we became a family.”
On July 24 at 11:16 a.m., Songbirds, a narrative short that was filmed in Greenwood will be presented. The film was produced, written and directed by Los Angeles-based filmmaker Lauren Maya Davis.
“Songbirds is a very visual project, so when I wrote the script, I was looking at a lot of photography and discovered Greenwood because of its beauty and the vast history there,” Davis said. “Once I connected with our location manager and the Greenwood Visitors Bureau, we spent a month scouting every corner of Greenwood and the surrounding areas, and the film very much came to life in that process. I hope this project inspires others in Greenwood and beyond to tell their stories and share their view of the world.”
Some other Mississippi highlights include Our Rebellious Hearts (July 22, 1:36 p.m.)a music documentary featuring Jackson musician Teneia Sanders from Jackson filmmaker Talamieka Brice; (I’m Not Your) Negroni (July 22, 2:16 p.m.), a documentary from Oxford filmmaker Antonio Tarrell; and the documentary feature A Man Called Hurt (July 23, 4:56 p.m.) about legendary bluesman Mississippi John Hurt.
The screenings culminate July 25 at 7:30 p.m. with the premiere of Badge Unbroken, a feature film directed and produced by Wright himself. It was filmed primarily in Holly Springs as part of the development of an interdisciplinary film program at Rust College. The film tells the true story of Robert Hall, the first black deputy police chief in Tupelo who was forced to resign amid controversy but was ultimately vindicated.
“What attracted me to the project was it was a story I’d never heard before,” Wright said. “Now, a black guy who gets railroaded in a predominately white town, that’s a story we’ve all heard before. But in his case the white community rallied around and supported him.”
The film features an appearance by Greenwood native actress Tonea Stewart, who has appeared in over 50 films and TV series, including Mississippi-made productions like The Hollars and A Time to Kill.
Stewart will also be leading one of the festival’s workshops, an intensive masterclass called the Theatre of Being, named after the Los Angeles theatre founded in the 1960s dedicated to providing non-stereotypical roles to black actors. The workshop costs $250 and runs July 24-25.
“This will be the first time she’s launched this particular training,” Wright said. “The theatre was founded by her mentor Frank Silvera. Beah Richards was his first student, and Tonea was his last. Other students included Esther Rolle, Louis Gossett Jr. and Whitman Mayo, who everybody remembers as Grady on Sanford and Son.”
And returning to the festival for a third year is the BEE Producing and Pitching Masterclass hosted by Ashley McFarlin, a TV executive for WE TV and AllBlk.TV. You can read a Q&A with her about last’s year class here. This year’s class costs $125 and can be attended in-person or virtually July 25.
The festivities wrap up on July 26 with a Black Tie Reception and Awards Gala at the Two Mississippi Museums, which is always a fan favorite of the festival.
“We’re constantly trying to improve each year,” Wright said. “We’re continuing our theme of honoring Good Times at the gala, and some of the nominees for best music video will perform. We’ve tweaked things to make the event run a bit tighter.”
Wright emphasized that while the overall goal of the festival is supporting local filmmakers and artists, the films being shown and related events are just as much of a “good time” for the general public as well.
“We want to get more of a community feel to the festival,” Wright said. “We certainly want to continue to attract and support artists, but at the end of the day we want to put their work in front of audiences. We want people to realize they can be a big part of a film festival just like any other community arts festival.”
For tickets and more information, visit jxnfilmfestival.com.
