Kevin Willmott (born August 31, 1959) is an Academy Award-winning American film director and screenwriter. He is known for work focusing on black issues including writing and directing '' Ninth Street,'' '' C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America,'' and '' Bunker Hill.'' His '' The Only Good Indian'' (2009) was a feature film about Native American children at an Indian boarding school and the forced assimilation that took place. In ''

Jayhawkers Jayhawker and red leg are terms that came to prominence in Kansas Territory during the Bleeding Kansas period of the 1850s; they were adopted by militant bands affiliated with the free-state cause during the American Civil War. These gangs were ...

'' (2014), he followed the life of

Wilt Chamberlain Wilton Norman Chamberlain ( ; August21, 1936 – October12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player. Standing tall, he played Center (basketball), center in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 seasons. He was enshrin ...

Phog Allen Forrest Clare "Phog" Allen (November 18, 1885 – September 16, 1974) was an American basketball coach and physician. Known as the "Father of Basketball Coaching,"Kansas Jayhawks basketball The Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball program is the intercollegiate men's basketball program of the University of Kansas. The program is classified in the NCAA's Division I and the team competes in the Big 12 Conference. Kansas is renowned for ...

team. Willmott has collaborated with

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and author. His work has continually explored race relations, issues within the black community, the role of media in contemporary ...

, with whom he shared an

Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay adapted from previously established material. The most frequently adapted media are novels, but other adapted narrative formats include stage plays, mus ...

for ''

BlacKkKlansman ''BlacKkKlansman'' is a 2018 American biographical film, biographical Crime film, crime comedy-drama film directed by Spike Lee and written by Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott and Lee, loosely based on the 2014 memoir ''Black K ...

''. The two again collaborated in writing '' Da 5 Bloods'', released worldwide digitally on June 12, 2020. Wilmott is a professor of film at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

Biography

Willmott grew up in

Junction City, Kansas Junction City is a city in and the county seat of Geary County, Kansas, Geary County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 22,932. Fort Riley, a major United States Army, U.S. ...

, and received a BA in Drama from Marymount College. He received a M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. He has worked as a screenwriter and film director, known for work related to African-American history and contemporary issues. In 2017, Willmott taught classes in a bulletproof vest in protest of the ability of students and staff to carry concealed weapons on the campus. He won the Best Director award at the

American Indian Film Festival The American Indian Film Festival is an annual non-profit film festival in San Francisco, California, United States. It is the world's oldest venue dedicated solely to Native American/First Nations films and prepared the way for the 1979 formati ...

for '' The Only Good Indian''. Willmott's next film, ''

'', received funding through

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

, a

crowdsourcing Crowdsourcing involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods or services—including ideas, votes, micro-tasks, and finances—for payment or as volunteers. Contemporary crowdsourcing often involves digit ...

website. In 2019, Willmott won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for the film ''

''.

Personal life

Willmott is

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, and has cited Fr Dan Berrigan, SJ as an influence in his life and work.

Filmography

Crew

Film

Television

Acting

References

External links

* * On Story – A Conversation with Kevin Willmot

{{DEFAULTSORT:Willmott, Kevin 1959 births African-American Catholics African-American film directors Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award winners Best Adapted Screenplay BAFTA Award winners Film directors from Kansas Living people People from Junction City, Kansas Place of birth missing (living people) Tisch School of the Arts alumni University of Kansas faculty Marymount College (Kansas) alumni