Delta Students’ Premiere Features Three Movies
CLEVELAND, MS – (July 1, 2025) – A free movie premiere held for the community by the students of a summer film camp treated audiences to not just one film, but three.
Students from the 2025 Sunflower County Film Academy speak with the audience after their three films premiered at the Ellis Theatre on Friday, June 20.
A sizeable crowd attended the premiere, which was held Friday, June 20 at the historic Ellis Theatre in downtown Cleveland. Hosted for the third year by the Delta Arts Alliance, the Sunflower County Film Academy (SCFA) and their three instructors Ben Powell, Glenn Payne and Laeitta Wade Robinson worked with 17 students during the free three-week STEM workshop to learn the art of movie making through Digital Arts and Media.
The students were: Nick Ales, Darren Chau, ShaCameron Collins, Janaiyah Dorsey, Madison Dozier, Ashley Hernandez, Peyton James, Libbi Marie Jenkins, Aaron Johnson, Makenzie Jones, Mandy’Ann Metcalf, Shanarius Ross, Jocelyn Surney, Tyunna Surney, Merion Turner, JaMyra Walker and McKenzie Walker.
While previous film ideas were suggested by the instructors, this year, the students were tasked with coming up with their own storylines and concepts. The students were also the actors and the production crew. The three short films featured were: The Date, Amira and Toxic Set.
Jocelyn Surney, a sophomore at Thomas Edwards High School in Ruleville, suggested the concept for The Date.
“I thought it would be a cute, simple and smooth idea,” she said. “And at first, I didn’t think I would be interested [in the film camp]. But it’s actually kind of fun to see all the different aspects of light, sound, props, the director and slating. It’s actually interesting. I like it. And it was shocking to see my very first idea getting made [into a movie]. It’s the first thing we did.”
SCFA Instructor Ben Powell and student McKenzie Walker attend the premiere.
The Date starring SCFA Students Ashley Hernandez and Aaron Johnson is the story of a young woman who faces the emotions of finding and losing her first love.
Amira, thought of by Libbie Marie Jenkins, is a sci-fi thriller about an art gallery owner (Tony Foster) mourning his wife. He receives assistance from an AI device that quickly develops an unhealthy fixation with him.
And Toxic Set, with the storyline pitched by Shanarius Ross, shows how chaos strikes the set of a movie when the disgruntled cast and crew members drop dead - one by one.
All three films will be submitted to local and national film festivals later this year and then will be posted on the Sunflower County Film Academy website.
After the premiere, there was a Q&A with the audience and the students moderated by SCFA Instructor and filmmaker Glenn Payne. Students were then presented with certificates of completion and a scholarship to help with school supplies.
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation and ATMOS Energy funded the premiere, workshop and the scholarship funds. The luncheon that followed the premiere was prepared by Backdraft Restaurant with donations by Delta Pride Catfish and Vowell’s Marketplace. Funds are now being sought for the 2026 film camp.