Canal Street Premiere.
Photo Submitted Rickayla Mitchell.
Even after all of his success, seven-time Grammy award winner Amir Windom hasn’t forgotten his roots.
The 2008 Florida A&M University School of Journalism & Graphic Communication graduate made sure that FAMU was one of his first stops to premiere his newest movie “Canal Street.”
“FAMU honestly is a huge part of my success. They gave me the extra boost of confidence that I needed, they made me humble, and more importantly they made me earn my success. It’s only right that I come back here to see if I could put that same energy in the next wave of FAMU students,” Windom said.
Students, faculty and community leaders gathered at the Tallahassee AMC-20 on Tuesday to watch the highly anticipated film that featured well-known actors such as Bryshere Gray from “Empire” and FAMU alum Woody McClain from “The New Edition Story.”
The Christian based film, written in 2005 and produced by Windom and Kevin Mullens, displays how a father of a young black boy fights to prove his son’s innocence after being accused of killing a white teenage boy.
After the film, there was also a “talk back” segment were both Windom and Mullens answered questions and got feedback from the audience.
Former Tallahassee Mayor John Marks was one of the many community leaders in attendance who really enjoyed the film.
“This was a very good movie, it was very compelling, and told a great story. It also made you think, which was really good,” Marks said.
“When we have dialogue between everybody we begin to erase those barriers that were once there, we have to listen to the other side, and we should not prejudge before we listen, that is what I got from this movie,” Marks added.
Even though Christian films are not prevalent in Hollywood today, it was important to Mullens that this film stood out from others and was relatable to all audiences.
“We wanted to create authentic stories that are relevant to where we live in today’s society and because we are believers we wanted to instill that subject matter of faith,” Mullen said.
Windom also produced the soundtrack for the film, which will be released in the coming weeks.
The film is in more than 100 theaters nationwide, and since its debut on Friday it has sold out in Tallahassee.