An independent filmmaker in Coral Springs got the chance to showcase his first full-length documentary in Downtown Fort Lauderdale's Savor Cinema.
Kevin Douglas Wright screened 'I Learned It From You' for an audience of about thirty people Sunday, in the same theater that is home to the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.
The film, which was selected to compete in the 2019 Global Indian Film Festival, follows six strangers in Broward County as they answer six questions about their childhoods, experiences with racial tensions and where their life lessons came from.
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"Ever since I was little, I was always interested in film," Wright said. "I like documentaries because it does capture someone's mindset at that particular moment."
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By writing, directing and producing the film, Wright said he wanted to find a way to record the power that one person's biases can have on someone else.
"When you meet different people and you talk to them, you hear different stories," Wright said. "And then when you meet a completely different person and you get a similar story, I just found that fascinating - that even though these two people don't know each other...their stories can be similar."
To find his subjects, Wright turned to the internet and social media. He used a Facebook post to find people who wanted to answer his questions about the deeper lessons behind their life stories.
One of the people who answered was Miriam Williams, 67. She moved to Hollywood four years ago from Illinois. She said she hopes that by telling her story about experiencing racial discrimination at different points in her life she's contributing to helping people better understand others.
"You don't know as much as you think you know. You have to pay attention to people, give everyone the benefit of the doubt," Williams said. "You have to be strong."
Wright hopes that through film festival showings he can branch out to larger movie theaters across the U.S. In the meantime, additional screenings of 'I Learned It From You,' will be announced on Wright's production website.
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