Alumni discuss ‘Miss Juneteenth’ film

Juneteenth has always been a date worth celebrating in the United States. To uplift and honor the holiday, the SCA African American Cinema Society hosted a live Q&A session Monday night with alumni and the creators behind “Miss Juneteenth.” During the event, writer and director Channing Godfrey Peoples and producer Neil Creque Williams discussed current events and what the making of the film meant to them at such a pivotal moment in our nation’s civil rights history. 

The event was moderated by Luke Harris, a rising junior majoring in film and television production and co-president of AACS. Harris spent time analyzing various cinematic elements of the film, including Peoples’ and Williams’ choices for production and sound design, along with central themes in the narrative and conceptualization of characters. 

“Miss Juneteenth” is a compelling, soulful and emotional story. Turquoise Jones (Nicole Beharie) is a single mother to a rebellious and free-spirited teenage daughter, Kai (Alexis Chikaeze), who she tries to prepare for the Miss Juneteenth pageant in Fort Worth, Texas. The pageant features young African American women vying for a college scholarship. 

A former beauty queen herself, Turquoise was crowned Miss Juneteenth in the 2004 pageant, a title which honors when enslaved people in Texas were told they had been free for two and a half years on June 19, 1865. But Turquoise’s life didn’t turn out as expected by her winning title. As a result, she is determined to rectify the past and in doing so, prepare her daughter to win the local Miss Juneteenth pageant, even if Kai isn’t interested.

When asked about the development of the story for “Miss Juneteenth,” Peoples replied that growing up in Texas, Juneteenth was always an important date. She explained how it was a celebration that was always in the fabric of her life and is a reverent time to remember ancestors. 

The pageant was a formative event for Peoples, as it’s had a lasting influence on her as a writer and director. 

“I got to see all these beautiful, talented, intelligent women that looked like me,” Peoples said. 

When Peoples was first beginning to generate ideas for a feature film, she expressed to Harris how she wanted to write a story about a Black woman who has a dream deferred and who discovers a new dream in the process. From there, Peoples’ inspiration and idea for the film was created. 

With the ongoing nationwide protests in support of Black lives and against police brutality, Peoples noted that they served as a catalyst for her to complete her work. 

“It’s been hard for me to navigate being entirely focused on getting a film out into the world when these tragedies are happening right now,”Peoples said. “For Black people right now, it’s about our survival … I felt more of a sense of determination to get [the film] out into the world, especially after these tragedies happened.” 

At a time when Black voices are increasingly getting the recognition they deserve, Peoples said she hopes that “Miss Juneteenth” will become one of those voices. 

“Our film is very much about the humanity of Black life,” Peoples said. “Who better to tell our stories than from our perspectives as Black people?” 

With this film coming out at such a pivotal time in the fight against social injustice, Williams sees “Miss Juneteenth” taking on a more meaningful role in revealing the larger issue of institutional racism in the United States. 

“It was exciting that the film was coming out but extremely bittersweet that it took not only the pandemic but also the George Floyd situation, the protests and everything for there to be a moment to reflect on some of the bigger dynamics of racism in the country,” Williams said.

“Miss Juneteenth” is not only aesthetically distinctive in its setting but is also detailed and purposeful in its choice of locations and props. Each scene was filmed at a real location in Fort Worth. For example, the juke joint used in the film was a place always known to locals to be open and only closed on their own time. When Peoples and Williams were filming there, local residents were waiting in line to go inside. 

The duo expressed how wonderful the community support was in Fort Worth when production was underway. In their eyes, the community was willing to help them create the authentic, nuanced world they wanted for the film. They were able to use the town’s bars and were given permission to record parts of the Fourth of July parade held yearly to use in the film. 

As the evening progressed, Harris inquired about the role Peoples and Williams believe movies play in education and how such was cultivated in “Miss Juneteenth.” Peoples remarked that this was the very reason she and Williams first bonded during their time at USC. Their shared interest in making films that highlight historical moments in the African American community from a different perspective has stayed with them since those early days. 

The powerful opening of the film begins with the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by Shirley Pace and a scene of Turquoise placing the Miss Juneteenth tiara on her head and holding her dress, which then cuts to Turquoise scrubbing a toilet. Beginning the film in this way shows the depth and unique narrative of Turquoise’s character and why she pushes her daughter the way she does. It gives audiences an intimate look into who Turquoise is underneath the crown. 

“That [song] is the Black national anthem,” Peoples said. “For us, it’s our sense of reverence and respect. It’s a moment of reflection for our ancestors. In the lyrics [of the song] it talks about the past and the future and that’s something that Turquoise is navigating in the space of the film.”

Before closing the Q&A portion with Harris, Williams acknowledged that two fellow alumni also worked on the film; Emily Rice, who worked as the composer, and Satomi Martin, who was the first assistant director. 

Sade Famuyiwa, a rising junior majoring in cinema and media studies, shared her love for the film’s aesthetic and asked why Turquoise’s background wasn’t explicitly stated as Famuyiwa felt it was told more subtly as the film progressed. 

“I wanted us to go on that same journey with [Turquoise] in the sense that I didn’t want us to get bogged down in what her back story was and to look at the film for where she is now and where she needed to go,” Peoples said. 

When asked what were the biggest lessons they’ve learned through this film and if they had any tips for young filmmakers, Williams remarked about the importance of adapting and the ability to change approaches when necessary.

“What I had to learn personally was not to get too locked down in just one way of solving a problem or approaching a scene because you may get everything together and it all changes,” Williams said. 

As a writer and director, Peoples’ parting advice emphasized the importance of doing research and conveying the vision for the film to other creatives on set. During the Q&A, Peoples showed one of the binders she used that was full of visual inspiration to help communicate to the creatives the tone of the film.