KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A new local feature film, titled "Midwest Skidmark," is making its debut in Kansas City Thursday evening.
The director is a Kansas City native, Phillip Dixon.
Dixon, the director, writer and producer of the film, received his bachelor's degree from Fisk University and his master's from the University of Kansas.
Dixon says his goal is to showcase and share perspectives that aren't typical at the mainstream level, from different experiences that he's dealt with or has witnessed in the United States.
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"People of color are everywhere. They're not just in Houston, it’s not just in L.A., it’s not just in New York. There are black people in Idaho, there are black people in Connecticut , there are black people in Kansas and Missouri, and so they have experiences that need to be showcased," Dixon said. "So, other people from the outside looking in can go, 'Oh this is the realities of their lives,' but people who are in it already can go, 'Ah I’ve seen that, I’ve experienced that, I’ve known that to be truth.' And I’m constantly putting that foot forward for the art that I’m engaging with, is just this idea of the Midwest narrative and trying to establish that."
"Midwest Skidmark" is Dixon's latest film.
"It's about two friends who went to school together, an HBCU. They went to college together and they went their separate ways, and now they’re coming back together to recapture their college days before one friend goes to Mexico and Guatemala, so it’s like a buddy comedy," Dixon said. "If you grew up watching Animal House, Superbad, American Pie, but you didn’t tend to see people of color in those spaces. So, as soon as you put that in there, all the sudden the narrative starts to shift."
All four showings are sold out for the $38,000 project.
"I started writing this in 2019, and co-writer Max Heering that I met while getting my master's at University of Kansas," Dixon said. "And then I decided I wanted to direct it in August of 2022, and then in November of 2022 we started getting on the ground and shooting the film, and then we ended up doing that every single weekend for about 12-hour shoot days all the way until December of 2022 and now we’re here."
Dixon strives to put Kansas City on the map.
"I’m here to hopefully establish and lay down a legacy in the Kansas City area to showcase we got things to do right here, we got things to say right here," Dixon said. "And you don’t have to necessarily travel and leave to gain the most out of what I’m personally trying to do."
He says when it comes to looking for a story of artistry to grasp onto, he hopes he can create an easier pathway for aspiring journalists.
"It’s a sense of responsibility that I have, a sense of responsibility that I feel, that I don’t take lightly and I understand the weight of it," Dixon said. "I'm kind of just seeing and engaging with what was there prior to me, before me, and try to make things easier, try to make things more inclusive, try to make things of a more wide variety for those coming behind me."
Although all showings are sold out for "Midwest Skidmark," Dixon hopes to have another showing in January.
To find the latest updates on Dixon's projects, including five he plans to work on in 2024, check out Brotha Abe Films on Instagram or click here.
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