The Bill Tuttle Distinguished Lecture in American Studies 2019
2019 Tuttle Lecture: Professor Kevin Willmott
" BlacKkKlansman and the Resurgence of Hate "
Thursday, October 24th, 2019 4:00 PM
Woodruff Auditorium, Kansas Union
Professor Wilmott is a member of the KU faculty where he teaches in the Department of Film and Media Studies. In 2018 he was awarded both the Academy Award and the BAFTA Award for best Adapted Screenplay for his co-writing of Black KKKlansman. The film also took the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival. Professor Wilmott has written, directed or acted in more than twelve films. His work includes Jayhawkers, which tells the story of Wilt Chamberlain and the 1956 KU men’s basketball team; C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America; ChiRaq, co-written with Spike Lee and The Only Good Indian, for which he won the Best Director Award at the American Indian Film Festival. He is at work on two new projects. I, Too, Sing America: Langston Hughes Unfurled, with a group of KU faculty about the life and work of one-time Lawrence resident Langston Hughes and The 24thabout the 1917 Houston riot. Originally from Junction City, Kansas, Kevin Wilmott earned his B.A. at Marymount College. Before pursuing an MFA at NYU, Tisch School of the Arts he worked to desegregate institutions in Kansas and organized two Catholic Worker shelters.