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Home Festival Circuit

‘Piano Lesson’ Co-Star Danielle Deadwyler To Receive Mill Valley Film Festival Award For Acting at Special Screening

Clarence Moye by Clarence Moye
August 27, 2024
in Festival Circuit, Film
0
‘Piano Lesson’ Co-Star Danielle Deadwyler To Receive Mill Valley Film Festival Award For Acting at Special Screening

Netflix

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The California Film Institute (CAFILM) is proud to announce a Spotlight presentation of Netflix’s upcoming release, THE PIANO LESSON, at the 47th Mill Valley Film Festival (MVFF). The MVFF Spotlight program, dedicated to celebrating exceptional work by film artists in their current roles, will feature a screening of The Piano Lesson and presentation of the MVFF Award for acting to Danielle Deadwyler (Till).

Directed by Malcolm Washington in his feature film directorial debut, The Piano Lesson is a compelling adaptation of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork. Danielle Deadwyler and director Malcolm Washington will attend this special screening, followed by an on-stage conversation.

 
What: MVFF47 Spotlight | THE PIANO LESSON Screening and Award Presentation
Who: Danielle Deadwyler and Malcolm Washington
Date: Sunday, October 6, 2024
Time: 6:30 PM
Screening Location: Sequoia Cinema, 25 Throckmorton Avenue, Mill Valley, CA

“Malcolm Washington’s confident directorial debut both honors the soul of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize winning play and infuses it with a vibrant cinematic sensibility. He’s assembled a great cast, actors who have an incredible sense of the language and spirit that made Wilson one of America’s greatest playwrights,” said Zoë Elton, MVFF Director of Programming. “And Danielle Deadwyler’s work in this film is exquisite. As she did in Till, she again proves herself to be one of the most outstanding actors of her generation. We’re excited to be honoring her work with the MVFF Award.”

A battle is brewing in the Charles household, where a prized heirloom piano stands at the center of a conflict that threatens to tear two siblings apart. On one side, a brother (John David Washington) is determined to build the family fortune by selling the piano, while on the other, a sister (Danielle Deadwyler) will stop at nothing to preserve the sole vestige of their family’s heritage. Their uncle (Samuel L. Jackson) attempts to mediate, but even he can’t hold back the ghosts of the past. The Piano Lesson delves into the intergenerational dynamics of identity, resilience, and transcendence, revealing profound truths about how we perceive the past and who gets to define our legacy. Directed and co-written by Malcolm Washington in his feature directorial debut, the film is brought to life by Oscar-nominated producers Denzel Washington and Todd Black, and features an all-star cast including Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, Ray Fisher, Michael Potts, Erykah Badu, Danielle Deadwyler, and Corey Hawkins.

Danielle Deadwyler, celebrated for her powerful performances, joins the ranks of past MVFF Spotlight honorees such as Nikyatu Jusu, Regina King, Denis Villeneuve, Robert Pattinson, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Brie Larson, Steve McQueen, and many other extraordinary talents.

 
Danielle Deadwyler’s journey in the performing arts began in childhood and continued through her collegiate education, laying the groundwork for her professional career. Recently, she completed production on the Netflix film adaptation of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson, directed by Malcolm Washington, set to debut at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival in September. Additionally, Danielle wrapped work on the action-thriller Carry On, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, slated for a late 2024 Netflix release, and stars in and executive produces The Women in the Yard, another Collet-Serra project, premiering in March 2025. Danielle is widely recognized for her portrayal of Mamie Till-Mobley in the award-winning film Till, earning her nominations for a Critics Choice Film Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, and BAFTA Film Award, along with the 2022 Gotham Award for Outstanding Lead Performance, the Critics Choice Association’s Celebration of Black Cinema & Television Actress Award for Film, and the National Board of Review Breakthrough Performance Award. She also appears in the Netflix limited series From Scratch and HBO Max’s Station Eleven, for which she received a 2023 Film Independent Spirit TV Award nomination. Her other notable credits include The Harder They Fall, The Devil to Pay, The Haves and the Have Nots, and Watchmen.
 
Malcolm Washington, a Los Angeles filmmaker, is making his feature film directorial debut with The Piano Lesson, an adaptation of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork for Netflix. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania and the prestigious American Film Institute, Washington directed award-winning short films and music videos, including the 2017 short film Benny Got Shot, for which he received the Filmmaker to Watch Award at the Atlanta Film Festival. His previous credits include She’s Gotta Have It, Summer of 17, The Dispute, and North Hollywood.

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Clarence Moye

Clarence Moye

Clarence Moye is a proud co-founder of The Contending where he writes about film, television, and occasionally Taylor Swift. Yes, you're allowed to make fun of him for that. He does not care. Under his 10-year run at Awards Daily, Clarence covered the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, the Telluride Film Festival, the SCAD Savannah Film Festival, the Middleburg Film Festival, and much more. Clarence is a member of the Critics Choice Association.

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