Director Jacqueline Olive’s film, “Always in Season,” about the history of lynching, told through the lens of a contemporary incident, will open in New York City on Friday, September 20 at The Metrograph, followed by runs in Los Angeles and select AMC theaters across the country. It will then receive its broadcast premiere during the winter 2020 season of PBS’ Independent Lens.
The announcement today comes with the news the film was this year’s sole recipient of the Sundance Institute’s Creative Distribution Fellowship, which supports filmmakers choosing to self-distribute their films through a $33,333 grant and industry resources, in exchange for transparency in the form of data-driven case studies. Previous fellowship films include “Columbus,” “Unrest,” and “Thunder Road.”
“Always in Season” premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival where it received mostly positive reviews and won a Special Jury Prize for Moral Urgency. The film centers around a mother’s search for justice after her 17-year-old son, Lennon Lacy, is found hanging from a swing set in rural North Carolina in 2014.
Olive uses the Lacy family’s traumatic story to look at the history of lynching African Americans that stretches into the present day. The film’s ability to speak to larger modern issues surrounding race is one of the reasons Sundance believes it has a unique ability to find an audience.
“[We] believe the film will be an important tool to spark dialogue and contribute to the momentum for racial justice and equity in this country,” said Chris Horton, director of the Creative Distribution Initiative. “Jackie, [producer] Jessica [Devaney], and their amazing team have an exciting filmmaker-led plan to bring it to audiences and see their goals to fruition, and we couldn’t be prouder to support them on their journey.”
The film is a Multitude Films Production presented by Tell It Media and a co-production of Independent Television Service (ITVS). It is produced by Devaney and Olive, written by Olive and Don Bernier and narrated by Danny Glover.
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