A festival honoring the retirement of Kevin Willmott, professor emeritus of film & media studies, at Liberty Hall in February screened four films written and directed by the Academy Award winner: “C.S.A.: Confederate States of America” (2004), “The Only Good Indian” (2009), “Destination Planet Negro” (2013) and “Jayhawkers” (2014).
The focus on Willmott’s early work highlighted a key element of the Junction City native’s approach to filmmaking, said his longtime creative partner and fellow film professor Matt Jacobson at the opening of the celebration.
“Before his rise to fame with films like ‘Chi-Raq’ and ‘BlacKkKlansman’ and ‘Da Five Bloods,’ Kevin was busy telling stories about race, politics, power and justice with a decidedly Midwestern accent,” Jacobson told festival attendees. “He decided after going to school at NYU that he was going to come back to Kansas to tell the stories that he felt were important to people here in the Midwest, and to hopefully get those stories heard completely across the United States and across the world.”
Those early movies are an important part of Willmott’s filmography, Jacobson noted, “not just because of the subject matter, but because they showed a whole generation of filmmakers and students that you can make movies in Kansas.”
Willmott reflected on the communal spirit that is a hallmark of so many of his film projects, joking that “C.S.A.” “was a total community effort: I think half of the town was in that movie.”
“That’s one of the things that kind of made me stay in Lawrence, having KU and having Matt Jacobson and Mark (von Schlemmer, editor of many Willmott films) and creating a community of film people and a company of actors,” Willmott added. “We were all friends, really. There were projects where they got paid to work with me, and projects where they didn’t get paid and they were kind enough to lend me their talent. I never even attempted to try to get money from Hollywood, because I knew they wouldn’t understand what the hell I was trying to do.”
After “C.S.A.” drew support from director Spike Lee, the two began a writing collaboration that led to “Chi-Raq,” “Da 5 Bloods” and “BlacKkKlansman.” For the latter film, Willmott and Lee shared an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2019.
The Academy Award led to more high-profile screenwriting assignments for Willmott, but he continued making films with a local focus. His most recent film, “The Heroic True-Life Adventures of Alvin Brooks,” portrays the life story of the Kansas City, Missouri, activist and leader. He wrote and directed “No Place Like Home: The Struggle Against Hate in Kansas” about LGBTQ rights in the state, and “William Allen White: What’s the Matter With Kansas,” a biopic about the newspaper editor and School of Journalism namesake known as the Sage of Emporia.
Although retirement brings down the curtain on Willmott’s teaching career, his film work continues.
“Actually this is probably one of the busiest periods of my whole career,” Willmott told “Up To Date” host Steve Kraske during a February appearance on the KCUR radio show. “Since winning the award, it has really stepped up the pace of projects, especially the writing projects.
“It was a tough decision. I really love teaching, and KU has been a big part of my life, a great part of my life, but because I am so busy now with writing films (and) directing a new movie, it’s just a really busy time and I have to give it my entire focus.”
Steven Hill is associate editor of Crimson & Blue.
