W I N N E R : 2 017 N N PA M E R I T AW A R D S : 2 N D P L A C E B E S T S P E C I A L E D I T I O N
Insight News July 9 - July 15, 2018
Vol. 45 No. 28• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com
Creators & Warriors
From left to right: Leonard Searcy, David Buchanan, Al McFarlane, Brian Few Jr., James Griffin and DaVar McGee Sr.
Abeni Hill
Filmmakers seek to reinvent the world Editor’s Note: portant conversations to be had came up with a six-minute short Behind the in our community. that doesn’t have any dialogue Staff Writer headline Award-winning director and whatsoever, but it is causing Leonard Searcy screenwriter Davar McGee cre- people to talk, which is exactly By Abeni Hill and a col- ated a short film about police why we do this.” league showed brutality titled “Suspect.” The McGee recently started a up at Juneteenth wearing Black film won awards including Film crowdfunding campaign (www. Panther full body outfits and of Merit from the Best Shorts gofundme.com/trinityhighfilm) commanding awe and affection Film Festival. McGee worked for his first feature film “Trinof young and old alike. In that with Brian Few, Jr. and Dennis ity High,” which is currently in role and in their work as film- Harmon on “Suspect.” Few’s pre-production and McGee demakers, Searcy and colleagues role for the film was cinematog- scribed it as “an anti-bullying reveal themselves to be creators rapher and editor while McGee campaign film.” The trailer for and warriors, embodiments of the wrote the screenplay and direct- “Trinity High” premiered on idea of Waconda Forever! ed the short, and Harmon cre- July 6 with NAACP Minneapolis Chapter. ated the musical score. Film is more than a form of enSaid Few, “McGee is heavy McGee and Few are also part tertainment, it is a means of ex- on the dialogue so I challenged of a non-profit for Black filmpression and a gateway to im- him to do it in silent form.” “We makers in the Twin Cities started FILMMAKERS 2