Morehouse film fest to honor director Spike Lee

34-film event honors work that promotes social justice issues.

When Julien Turner was deciding on a college, he weighed two options.

Accept an athletic scholarship to fulfill his dream of being a Division I football player.

Or accept an academic scholarship to Morehouse College and learn how to be a filmmaker.

“When I finally decided that I didn’t see myself pursuing the NFL,” he said, “it made me comfortable that I could go to Morehouse College where Spike Lee had already paved the path for people who look like me.”

On Thursday, Turner and his 17-year-old brother Justen debuted their film, “Nia’s

Shadow,” at Morehouse’s inaugural Human Rights Film Festival.

The three-day event will highlight independent film- makers whose work promotes cultural understanding and exposes the injustices of the world, as well as showcase the work of veteran directors, school officials said.

On Saturday, the festival will present its first Spike Lee Award for Social Impact in Filmmaking to a 1979 More- house College graduate: Spike Lee.

“Spike Lee has increasingly established himself as a legend, and his work has been, socially, so impactful,” said Stephanie Dunn, academic director of Morehouse’s Cinema, Television and Emerging Media Studies program. “And he is one of Morehouse’s own.” The award will be presented

annually to artists who use their craft to champion social justice issues.

“Morehouse College has a rich legacy of producing lead-

ers who speak truth to power across disciplines, including film and television,” said Morehouse President David A. Thomas. “Sharing that spotlight with new voices exposes our scholars, the greater More- house community and the public to ideas that broaden their intellect and to art that speaks to their cultural expe- rience.”

Over the course of the festival, 34 films will be shown, including documentaries,

10 student films, 13 feature films and three marquee films,

including Kasi Lemmons’ new film “Harriet” and Nate Parker’s “American Skin.”

The third marquee film will be Lee’s 1989 masterpiece “Do the Right Thing,” which will be shown Saturday night after the award ceremony, followed

by “King in the Wilderness, “a documentary on the life of 1948 Morehouse graduate Martin Luther King Jr.

In addition, there will be workshops on screenwriting, editing, directing and produc- ing, as well as discussions on immigration, race, politics, health care, law enforcement and the judicial system.

Netflix and WarnerMedia will hold panel discussions on career opportunities for filmmakers, industry professionals and business services workers. Filmmaker Oz Scott will be a panelist for the “Creating Film in Atlanta” discussion. Scott gained acclaim as a television producer and director (“Black Lightning”) and theater director (“For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf ”).

Turner and his brother wanted to help bring change when they started Dreadhead Films. Self-taught, the brothers would spend breaks making short films at home in Illi

nois and then Ohio.

They began with tiny budgets but wanted to go bigger for “Nia’s Shadow,” a 22-minute sci-fi drama.

So they raised $50,000 in crowd-funding and shot the film in Columbus, Ohio.

In the summer of 2017, Julien Turner met Spike Lee for the first time at a film festival on Martha’s Vineyard. The veteran filmmaker invited the young filmmaker to his home to talk about the craft.

“It was a pretty dope experience,” Turner said.

CONTRIBUTED Award-winning film director Spike Lee, who graduated from Morehouse College in 1979, teaches a class at his alma mater.