Award-winning artist Kevin Jerome Everson has cast three talented actors for his first narrative feature film, “Lowndes County.” The project will star Jada Keche, known for her work in “Reasonable Doubt,” alongside Lionel Johnson Jr. from “Darwin” and Carolyn Michelle Smith of “Familiar Touch.”
The film recently finished shooting in Columbus, Mississippi, and is set in rural Mississippi in 1959, a time of great uncertainty, five years after Brown v. Board of Education and five years before the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Furthermore, written by Everson and playwright Talaya Delaney, the story draws directly from the real experiences of Everson’s father and uncle, who served as teenage bus drivers in Columbus, Mississippi during the 1950s.
The film follows Borne (Keche), a brave and smart African-American teenager, and her older brother Gago (Johnson Jr.), who must stand up to a system trying to defeat them. After vandals damage their school bus, they courageously and creatively repair it themselves. To reach their goals and get safely to school, they rely on their community’s support and learn important lessons about history from Cassilee, known as the “Queen of Catfish Alley” (Smith).
The film is a trilobite-arts DAC production, with Madeleine Molyneaux serving as producer alongside Everson, Delaney and Kahlil I. Pedizisai. Erica Arvold and Dustin Presley handled casting duties. Keche brings her experience from ‘Reasonable Doubt’ and ‘Ms. Marvel,’ with STW Talent Agency representing her. Johnson Jr. draws from his roles in the indie thriller ‘Darwin’ and The CW’s ‘All-American,’ working with Daniel Hoff Agency and Tassell Talent Group.
Meanwhile, Smith brings extensive television experience to the project, with notable credits including ‘And Just Like That…,’ ‘Familiar Touch,’ ‘The Chi,’ and ‘Russian Doll.'”Smith brings extensive television experience to the project, with credits including “And Just Like That…,” “Familiar Touch,” “The Chi,” and “Russian Doll.”Anonymous Content, Buchwald, Goodman, Genow, and Schenkman represent her. Buchwald, Goodman, Genow, and Schenkman. Director Kevin Jerome Everson is a celebrated artist whose work spans photography, printmaking, sculpture, and film. Over his career, he has earned major honours, including the Guggenheim Fellowship, Alpert Award in Film/Video, Heinz Award in Arts & Humanities, Rome Prize, and Berlin Prize. Additionally, he has secured grants from the Ford Foundation, Knight Foundation, and Creative Capital.
