“Growing up in Texas, Juneteenth was always a huge part of my life, but I didn’t fully grasp the importance of the holiday until I was an adult,” she says. She also became an Austin screenwriting fellow, where she was mentored by the great African-American director Charles Burnett, whose films, such as Killer of Sheep (1977), have often captured the textures of Black working-class and family life in similar ways to those found in Miss Juneteenth. Circulation, Additionally, she was intrigued by the prospect of working with a Black female writer and director for the very first time in her career. And Beharie, who naturally exudes strength and dignity, was perfect for the role. “But one of the things that I can say about that experience was, I was also having my awakening about the way that I was interpreting Turquoise’s journey. You will be redirected back to your article in, Get The Latest IndieWire Alerts And Newsletters Delivered Directly To Your Inbox. ), "The focus of the casting was [that] Turquoise has such a complex emotional journey and so we really were looking for someone who could bring the nuance to the role," Godfrey Peoples says of casting. By clicking 'X' or continuing to use the site, you agree to allow cookies to be placed. At least in most cases. Join the Observer community and help support independent local journalism in Dallas. For star Nicole Beharie, it was that same authenticity that drew her to the project, playing a proud woman taking on the burden of representing history and generations of Black women, as she makes strides towards her own self-realization. Channing Godfrey Peoples, Writer: Miss Juneteenth. How Channing Godfrey Peoples’ Directorial Debut ‘Miss Juneteenth’ Explores the Meaning of Freedom. The movie follows Turquoise Jones (played by Nicole Beharie), a single mother working to put her daughter (newcomer Alexis Chikaeze) through the Miss Juneteenth scholarship pageant, which she herself had won as a teen. While Godfrey Peoples didn’t participate, ("But I’m clearly nostalgic and wish I had been," she jokes) she saw the competition as a scholastic opportunity and a chance at empowerment for young women. I’d run around and tell people, "Happy Juneteenth!" Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! I would read them and see the pictures in my head.”. “It was a constant education about what Juneteenth was and that was interesting because it was just so much a part of the fabric of my life growing up.”. In terms of her own resilience in the journey to direct her first film, Peoples points to the Austin Film Society program (Richard Linklater and her idol Charles Burnett) and the Sundance Institute, as well as Ava DuVernay (who she worked with on “Queen Sugar”), Gina Prince-Bythewood and Matthew A. Cherry, as mentors and filmmakers that encouraged or directly helped her get the project made. It’s an immersive process that speaks to the pursuit of authenticity which is evident in the performances, as well as the capturing of the place, the time, the people, the language, and, most importantly, the accent, which Beharie picked up perfectly. “It was always written into the script and then, the more that I workshopped the script and really started to understand you know the lyrics in this beautiful poem, the more for me that, it describes who Turquoise is.”. “[The pageant] was clearly nostalgic for me, something that I looked forward to every year and one of the things that I remember it being formative for me. Working with producer and fellow USC grad Neil Creque Williams, Peoples began writing the script that became Miss Juneteenth, entering it in to a number of screenwriting competitions, which earned her valuable feedback and important grants. As the last in the United States to become free, the Black people of Texas have a history unlike any others in the country. Miss Juneteenth, the debut feature by director Channing Godfrey Peoples, is a film that feels entirely authentic and one that carries that weight of history on its shoulders, sets it down in front of us and asks us to take it in. When I’m writing, my characters speak to me: Kai told me that she was going to dance.”. If a director doesn’t know their setting and characters, savvy viewers will immediately be able to tell. I saw For Colored Girls, and I became taken with the stories. Dallas Restaurant Directory: Takeout/Delivery/Dine-in, Dallas Actor Jonathan Majors Digs Into the Truth of the Black Experience With Spike Lee, The North Texas Artists Whose Work Is a Revolution, Cinestate Sees Serious Fallout Following Exposé on 'The Harvey Weinstein of Dallas'. 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