Oscar-winning screenwriter Kevin Willmott delivering keynote address for 'Art of Democracy' symposium
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
Kevin Willmott, Oscar-winning screenwriter, acclaimed filmmaker and professor of film at the University of Kansas, will be the keynote speaker for Kansas State University's engagement symposium, "The Art of Democracy." | Download this photo.
MANHATTAN — Kansas State University's all-day engagement symposium, "The Art of Democracy," will wrap up with a public talk by Oscar-winning screenwriter and acclaimed filmmaker Kevin Willmott.
Willmott will be the keynote speaker for the symposium, which is co-organized by the Office of the Provost and the Center for Engagement and Community Development. He will present "BlacKkKlansman: A Response to the Resurgence of Overt Racism in America Today" at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, March 21, in the Bluemont Room at the K-State Student Union. No tickets are required and the public is invited to attend.
A professor of film at the University of Kansas, Willmott co-wrote the film "BlacKkKlansman" with director Spike Lee and other collaborators. The film earned the Oscar for best adapted screenplay at the recent 91st Academy Awards ceremony.
In his keynote address for "The Art of Democracy," Willmott will discuss how "BlacKkKlansman" explores and exemplifies the rise of racism, Charlottesville, the Muslim travel ban and the government shutdown over funding for the wall. "BlacKkKlansman" is based on the true story of and book by Ron Stallworth, a young African-American police officer who infiltrated a cell of the Ku Klux Klan in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in the late 1970s.
Willmott's talk is presented by the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art at Kansas State University in partnership with the university's Dow Center for Multicultural and Community Studies, the Center for Engagement and Community Development, Department of Art, UFM Community Learning Center and Black Student Union.
"BlacKkKlansman" was nominated for five other Academy Awards. The film has also received prestigious awards internationally, including the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival, the award for best adapted screenplay from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and other honors.
Livestreaming of this event is being made available to Kansas community college partners.
Read more about "The Art of Democracy" symposium. For more information on Willmott's visit, contact Linda Duke, director of the Beach Museum of Art, at lduke@k-state.edu.
