Name: "E Is For" - Film Screening
Start: 2024-12-04T19:00:00-05:00
Location: 28 Liberty Lane, Greenville, SC, United States, South Carolina 29607

The Radio Room presents the Greenville premiere of the locally-made feature film, E is for, directed by Welles Davis and written by and starring Maddox-Julien Slide. Come out to support local filmmakers. You’ll recognize many people and filming locations, including the Poinsett Highway Radio Room.
6pm Doors/7pm Screening with a Q&A after.
$10.
Logline:
When a Black Queer Non-Binary barista/street medic who just moved back to their southern hometown realizes they’ve connected to an alternate version of themselves in another timeline, it brings a whole new meaning to the phrase “You’re just talking to yourself.”

Filmmaker Statements:
WELLES: Around 2018 I was brainstorming an idea for a super high concept sci-fi film about a character who makes a connection with themselves in an alternate universe. And when I say high concept I mean HIGH CONCEPT. End-of-the-world type stuff where the whole planet is on the line and the main character needs to work with themselves to save it. It was the type of thing that would have taken millions to make, and, honestly, it didn’t feel strong enough. Fast forward to 2020. The pandemic shut everything down, and in order to keep my brain active MJ and I would meet up for porch sits and brainstorming. MJ has always been better than me about the feels, and, through their own life experiences, we ended up changing that way-too-high concept idea into E is for. Instead of the world on the line, it’s one person. And it takes self-love and community to save them, in every reality.
When I say that MJ is my creative partner, I wonder what people think. What I mean is that we create together, and we balance each other perfectly. I’m all about structure and pace when it comes to screenplays, and they bring the heart. On set it’s a similar feeling. My contributions are greater in the camera language and setting up the rules (like world-building when you write a script). MJ takes on the heart, and they have so much of it, laying themselves fully out there in E IS FOR for everyone to see. For this film specifically, since MJ was in every scene, I took on the role of Director. But our partnership blurs the lines of traditional credits. It is always an honor to have someone on set and in the writer’s room who I can communicate perfectly with, even without words. This film is their story. It’s personal and dark and raw, but I like to think it’s more triumphant and hopeful. We infused all of this very human and complex story with camera angles and movements, color choice, scene design, and sound design that hold this story up as a celebration.

MADDOX-JULIEN: E IS FOR is the culmination of a decade of hard won life lessons, trauma processing, and gaining hope and stability through community care and accountability. It’s a film that is as autobiographical as a science fiction story can be and with that comes a tremendous level of vulnerability and deep trust in the core collaborators. I trust Rebecca with my life, both literally and narratively. The years we’ve spent creating stories together are full of peaks and valleys but through all this Rebecca has proven that they’re not only highly professional but a dear and empathic homie. It didn’t cross my mind to even consider anyone else to create E IS FOR with and we assembled a team that reflected the care we had built in our collaborative relationship. My hope for this film is that audience members experience a story about the power of community and self-acceptance and how genre stories are the perfect vehicle for getting to the heart of what it means to be human. This is a Queer love story. And not Queer love as in romantic, but Queer Love as in “All the homies are gonna get free.”