When scouting locations for her short film “If She Only Knew”, Roxanne Wright visited Augusta and was immediately drawn in.
“When I came here, I knew this was where I needed to be,” said Wright, a Canadian filmmaker who was back in Augusta over the weekend to participate in The Arts and Letters Committee of the Augusta Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.’s fourth annual Filmmakers Showcase.
Her short film was shown, and she spoke on a panel.
The short focuses on two friends and the jealousy that forms when one of them gets engaged. Themes of violence and colorism are also woven into the film.
Wright shot scenes inside Humanitree House and on the sidewalk outside as well as in front of Cole Phail’s James Brown mural on Ninth Street. She also needed actors for the movie and the help of the Augusta-based technical crew.
“I needed a full Black cast, and that’s hard to find in Toronto,” she said.
Wright said she feels at home in the area and would like to shoot another movie here.
In addition to Wright the showcase featured other filmmakers and short film screenings.
A.B. Osborne, the Director of the Animation Program and an Associate Professor of Animation at Augusta University, was one of the featured speakers
He addressed AI, but he compared AI to a frozen microwavable meal which can never match Grandma’s home cooking.
The event also included a memorial tribute to Terrye Y. Thompson, the executive producer of the film “Two Classes of 1968” which “uncovers a rarely told chapter of American integration history. When Immaculate Conception Academy (ICA), a Black Catholic high school, closes its doors in 1968, its students are uprooted from the protective community nurtured by Franciscan nuns and sent to integrate the previously segregated Aquinas High School. This film features many of the former students and alumni at these schools and their experience in their own words,” according to a news release.
Other participating filmmakers included Chad Henderson, “Toreador” and Shandrea Evans, “Bloom”. Terrence Williams, operations manager of INDIEGRIP and a 2024 Emmy Award-winner, served as the event host. A reception was Friday at INDIEGRIP.
To learn more about Wright’s work, go to roxannewright.com or on social media @smirkyroxproductions.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years. She’s won multiple Georgia Press Association awards, is the recipient of the 2018 Greater Augusta Arts Council’s media award and was named Augusta Magazine’s best local writer in 2024 and 2025. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
