Sunflower County Film Academy
Film Festivals
Since its founding in 2018, one of the goals of the Sunflower County Film Academy (SCFA) has been to introduce high school students in the Mississippi Delta to broader career opportunities in the filmmaking industry as producers, directors, cinematographers, writers, editors and more. This will allow them to Find Their Voice and use it to express themselves creatively and tell the stories of their heart - and to hopefully make it their life’s work.
Training for that goal begins in our intensive free summer workshop where they learn how to use professional-grade production equipment and produce their own film and video projects.
They also learn how to engage with audiences and the public when their class film is screened for the community at the end of the workshop. They answer questions from the audience about the filmmaking process, the workshop and their future plans.
We endeavor to further that opportunity by submitting their class film to local and national film festivals. Our students have the opportunity to attend, discuss their film in a Q&A, participate in festival workshops and converse and network with other filmmakers.
Best Shorts Competition. 2024
In December 2024, the Sunflower County Film Academy student film, Whenever You’re Ready received an Award of Merit Special Mention in the Film Short category for the Best Shorts Competition.
Honored were the Sunflower County Film Academy, and instructors Glenn Payne and Ben Powell.
Best Shorts is an internationally prestigious competition
Best Shorts is an internationally prestigious competition honoring independant filmmakers to Oscar Winners to hot new talent! Their judges base their decisions on the quality, creativity, and technical aspects of each piece. The award(s) appropriately reflect the countless hours the production team invested in creating their film.
“Mississippi Roots” Premiere. 2024
On October 12, 2024, independant filmmaker Renjah Brimage held a premiere of her film, “Mississippi Roots” in Magee, MS. Brimage requested a screening of the 2023 Sunflower County Film Academy film, Help Wanted be shown at the premiere as a special treat for her younger audience.
“Mississippi Roots” is a short film that follows a Black woman elder who teaches children and other young people about the importance of community and taking care of one another. The setting of the film takes place near a tree in the elder’s front yard, though it holds a much deeper meaning to the film’s plot. “There’s a tree in every state, and it represents us as people. If we nature ourselves and respect and love one another, then we would have love and unity all over the world because it starts from home,” Brimage said.
Brimage is on the committee board of the Magnolia Film Festival where he had seen Help Wanted earlier that year.
The 2023 Sunflower County Film Academy film, Help Wanted, starred Merion Turner, Cameron Baldwin, Jonarious “Jay” Lee and Jacobi Baldwin.
Mississippi Indie Film Forum. 2024
On August 16-17, 2024, the Mississippi Film Office hosted a film forum at the Capri Theatre in Jackson, MS.
The forum featured a block of independant short films screened at local film festivals and “Help Wanted” was chosen as one of those films.
The forum also included workshops and panel discussions.
“Help Wanted” was written by award-winning filmmaker, Glenn Payne, and tells the story of a troubled teen, “Elijah” who forms an unexpected bond when he befriends a gruff old man in a story about friendship, growth and finding one’s place in the world.
Payne is also an instructor for the Sunflower County Film Academy, and the production crew of “Help Wanted” were students from our 2023 summer film camp: Peyton James, Aaron Johnson, Jonarious Lee, Arthur Evans, Zariah Burl, Mariano Sifuentes, Aryanna Duvall, Merion Turner and Jaiden Nix.
Turner, who plays, “Elijah” won an Award of Recognition as Leading Student Actor in the Best Shorts Competition.
Oxford Film Festival. 2024
Held in Oxford March 21 - 24th, the 21st annual Oxford Film Festival featured 120 narrative and documentary features, experimental films, music videos and shorts, including our Sunflower County Film Academy 2023 film, “Help Wanted”.
With more than 1,000 people in attendance, Matt Wymer, Executive Director of the Oxford Film Festival said, “This year, the festival is concentrated on audience experience…so the film selections included sci-fi and horror, while continuing to celebrate poignant documentaries and engaging narratives. There’s something for everybody and this lineup reflects a film industry on the cusp of exciting change.”
The event was a melting pot of filmmakers, film connoisseurs and film critics. And for four days it opened the doors for filmmakers to better understand how their work is received and to interact with other creators. Alongside film screenings, the festival will feature a lineup of workshops and panel discussions.
Sunflower County Film Academy Instructor and filmmaker Glenn Payne (2nd from right) attends a Q&A after the screening of "Help Wanted".
Filmmaker and instructor Glenn Payne of Dead Leaf Productions.
Jacobi Baldwin (l to r), Glenn Payne, Cameron Baldwin, Sunflower County Film Academy Insructor and filmmaker Ben Powell and Merion Turner on the red carpet at the 21st Annual Oxford Film Festival.
The Magnolia Film Festival (The Mag). 2024
Help Wanted stars (l to r) Cameron Baldwin (Columbus Middle School), SCFA students Merion Turner (Drew High School) and Jonarious 'Jay' Lee (Leland High School) and Jacobi Baldwin (Columbus Middle School).
Students Cameron (l) and Jacobi Baldwin (r) attended The Mag with their mother, Angel. Cameron plays "DJ" in Help Wanted and Jacobi stars as "Max".
Filmmaker and SCFA Instructor Glenn Payne (c) with Cameron and Jacobi Baldwin at The Mag.
Films selected for the 27th annual Magnolia Film Festival, including Help Wanted, were shown at the UEC Hollywood Premier Cinemas in Starkville.
Help Wanted was produced and directed by filmmakers and SCFA Instructors Glenn Payne and Ben Powell and written by Payne. The Sunflower County Film Academy students starred in the film and were the production crew.
A story about the students and their film being selected by The Mag, the Oxford Film Festival and winning three awards with The Best Shorts Competition was featured in the Bolivar Bullet on Feb. 21, 2024.
Previous media coverage included the premiere of Help Wanted at the historic Ellis Theater in Cleveland in the July 12, 2023 edition.
And the introduction of the program in the June 28, 2023 edition.
The Sunflower County Film Academy production, Help Wanted, was an official selection at The Mag on Saturday, Feb. 24, in Starkvile. Coverage by WTVA News.
Cameron and Jacobi Baldwin and Glenn Payne network with other filmmakers at The Mag.
Help Wanted as it appeared on the screen during The Mag.
Cameron, Angel and Jacobi Baldwin attend a screening of Help Wanted at The Mag.
Jacobi Baldwin poses for the media at The Mag.
Help Wanted featured in The Mag program booklet.
SCFA Instructor Glenn Payne (center) and other filmmakers at a reception for The Mag participants.
Best Shorts Competition. 2023
The Best Shorts Competition is unique in the industry. Attracting both powerhouse companies as well as talented new filmmakers, The Best Shorts is an exceptional, truly international awards competition, not a traditional film festival – which allows filmmakers from around the world to enter their films in this prestigious competition.
Established in 2011, Best Shorts is an avant-garde worldwide competition that strives to give talented directors, producers, actors, creative teams and new media creators the positive exposure they deserve. It discovers and honors the achievements of filmmakers who produce high quality shorts and new media. Best Shorts promotes award winners through press releases to over 100,000 filmmakers through our partners at FilmFestivals.com.
In December 2023, our student film, Help Wanted, won in three categories:
Award of Merit: Sunflower County Film Academy - Help Wanted, “Film Short (Student)”
Award of Merit: Sunflower County Film Academy - “Young Filmmaker – 17 and younger”
Award of Recognition: Sunflower County Film Academy (Glenn Payne and Ben Powell) (USA), Help Wanted, Actor: Leading (Student) (Merion Turner as “Elijah”)
Oxford Film Festival. 2023
Our 2021 student film, “An Army Rising Up” was an official selection at the 2023 Oxford Film Festival. Our host for the Sunflower County Film Academy, Patrick Weems and The Emmett Till Center (ETIC) in Sumner, provided a van so several students could attend the screening on March 3, 2023.
Sunflower County Film Academy Instructors/Filmmakers (far left) Dr. Brian Graves, (fourth from left) Dr. Pablo Correa and West Tallahatchie High School U.S. History teacher, Germaine Hampton (far right) accompanied our students to the film festival.
Sarasota Film Festival. 2022
Founded in 1998, the Sarasota Film Festival is an international film festival hosted in Sarasota, Florida and viewable from around the world. The festival is typically held each April, in support of its mission: To celebrate the art of filmmaking and the contribution of filmmakers by hosting an international film festival and developing year-long programs for the economic, educational, and cultural benefit of our community.
The 24th annual Sarasota Film Festival, held on April 1-10, 2022 featured several high profile filmmakers and subjects including M. Cahill’s Porcupine, starring Jena Malone of Into The Wild and The Hunger Games series and Listening To Kenny G, which examines the life and career of jazz legend Kenny G.
Watch the film here!
The festival also featured productions by first time filmmakers and students including, “An Army Rising Up” by the Sunflower County Film Academy.
Drawing from intimate interviews with high school students and educators in the Mississippi Delta, student shot footage, and archival material, “An Army Rising Up” is a short documentary that follows the journey of 22 high schoolers from the Mississippi Delta as they explore and document their communities’ connections to Civil Rights icons Emmett Till and Fannie Lou Hamer.
The students were the production crew and the film was written, produced, directed and edited by filmmakers and SCFA Instructors Pablo Correa and Brian Graves. The film premiered at the Tallahatchie County Courthouse.
Articles about the film and workshop were featured in The Bitter Southerner and The Sun Sentinel.
Crossroads Film Festival. 2019
The 20th Annual Crossroads Film Festival was held April 11-13, 2019 in Madison, MS at the Malco Grandview Cinema. The festival that year featured several tales of freedom and the Civil Rights Movement, including, Find Your Voice, produced by the students of the 2018 Sunflower County Film Academy (SCFA).
The film was produced and edited by filmmaker and SCFA Founder and Instructor Joy Davenport. Filmmakers Pablo Correa and R.J. Fitzpatrick were also instructors for the 17 student class held at Gentry High School in Indianola, MS. Media coverage for the students and their film premiere appeared in the Clarion Ledger.
Watch the film here!
Keziah Allen, Keyshawn Brison and Keyshaun Meeks (l to r) attend the 2019 Crossroads Film Festival in Madison with filmmakers and SCFA Instructors Pablo Correa (second from right) and R.J. Fitzpatrick. The students' class film, Find Your Voice, was shown at the festival.
Keyshawn Brison, Keyshaun Meeks and Keziah Allen enjoy seeing their film, Find Your Voice, on the big screen at the Malco Theater in Madison where it premiered at the 2019 Crossroads Film Festival. Filmmaker and SCFA Instructor Pablo Correa (l) is also pictured.
The student film as listed in the festival program booklet.
Filmmaker and SCFA Instructor R.J. Fitzpatrick (r) stands on the stage with students Keziah Allen, Keyshawn Brison and Keyshaun Meeks as they answer questions from the audience about their class film, Find Your Voice, after the screening at the 2019 Crossroads Film Festival.
Students (l) Keziah Allen, Keyshaun Meeks and Keyshawn Brison grab a bite with filmmakers and SCFA Instructors (r) R.J. Fitzpatrick and Pablo Correa after the screening of Find Your Voice at the Crossroads Film Festival.
The movie poster for Find Your Voice