Juneteenth Reckoning with Slavery film is our fifth film in a series of historical films that confront America’s history of slavery, in an effort to pass on this wretched history to youth and families, as to make certain it never repeats itself. Reckoning with Slavery also promotes unity as a beloved community coming together to discuss “Where Do We Go From Here?”, after understanding where we came from. as a healing way forward. We start with drumming and a breathing exercise before each screening to ground us in the film and conversation that follows. You witness healing, transformation and love for one another that we hope will be taken out into the world and shared.

As the Director / Co-Producer of films at OMG Studios, “Sankofa,” a word from the Akan people of West Africa, meaning “go back and fetch it” suggests that we can’t go forward as a people unless we know our history. This is a primary vision for our films at OMG Studios. My first cinema experience was not special as we were not allowed to sit in the main theater. We had to sit on the balcony. It was in the 60s and Black and Indian Americans were still fighting for freedom. Even as a child with my mother, I remember the feeling of segregation in the theater, not knowing the reason we were in the balcony. I don’t remember the film at all.

Ava Duvernay (Origins), Brad Pitt (One Love) and Brian Singer (Bohemian Rhapsody) are brilliant Directors.
What would be your favourite movie? I love documentaries and historical films that fill in the blanks of what was intentionally left out of history books. TRUTH is always the way, no matter how painful it is. IT IS HISTORY. PERIOD. I also love episodic series such as “Pachinko” and “Disclaimer” which combine fiction and non-fiction, masterfully leading up to the plot and leaving you spell-bound.

After film screenings, the audience feedback was that our films need to be expanded to be available in rural MN. We created a film tour throughout Greater MN which has been a huge opportunity to connect with people do not look or think like me. It has been a rewarding and memorable experience to respectfully engage in conversations that are uncomfortable. We must not be afraid to work together to solve our own problems in communities.

It is always raising enough funding to produce our films. When you wear many hats, it is exhausting to also schedule meeting to make sure the budget is there when you need it. We are grateful to MN Humanities Center, co-produce of our films for providing the necessary funding to make our films.

How best to tell the story in a big way with small film budgets. In Juneteenth Reckoning with Slavery, for example, we knew we needed to travel to Ghana to film in a tribe that participated in the Trans -Atlantic Slave Trade, where you see the powerful moment where the King apologizes for his ancestors enslaving ours. That was a moment of truth and reconciliation that we had never seen portrayed in movies. To make the budget make sense, we hired an outstanding Ghanaian film crew who knew the film locations well and guided us through rough terrain, tribal language barriers, and really worked well with our small OMG Studios film crew, including our Innovation Lab Youth, who are in film development.

Comments in audience surveys were…

“Promote awesome cultural opportunities like this more.”

“Continue programming like this!”

“Thank you for the education and awareness.”

“Admiring the ancestors and the Minnesota connection”

“I love the sense of community programs like this create”

In audience surveys, our films receive the highest ratings in Education / Lifelong Learning.

Leading with originality and creativity, followed by taking from classic filmmaking what makes sense. The goal is to create an ecosystem that leads to love for all humanity.

Yes. Film Festivals offer more value in film quality, diversity inclusivity and reach. We want many people to see our films, for OMG Studios, film screening enable us to do just that as a don’t have the marketing budgets that movie studios have. I also try to attend as many in person as possible as the community discussions are a critical component of the education and curriculum that we development, which is being used in two Public Education Schools systems. Screening our films at film festivals, attending in person, and having community discussions after the film have been personally gratifying and energize me to continue on this journey of creating a global beloved community.

OMG Studios is planning to expand its film distribution i.e. to digital streaming movie networks i.e. Netflix, AppleTV or Amazon Film.