Janet Staiger Lecture in Gender and Sexuality Filmmaker Screening and Talk: Channing Godfrey Peoples, “Miss Juneteenth”

Janet Staiger Lecture in Gender and Sexuality 
Filmmaker Screening and Talk: Channing Godfrey Peoples, “Miss Juneteenth”
4:00 pm • DMC 2.106 Auditorium

The Department of Radio-Television-Film is thrilled to have filmmaker Channing Godfrey Peoples as our guest speaker for our annual Janet Staiger Lecture in Gender and Sexuality. She will screen her critically acclaimed film, “Miss Juneteenth,” and then discuss it with a panel of three MFA Production students—Fatima Wardy, Musila Munuve, and Benji Unanaowo.

Speaker Bio:

Channing Godfrey Peoples made her feature directorial debut with the critically acclaimed drama, Miss Juneteenth, which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival in U.S. Dramatic Competition. At SXSW, Miss Juneteenth won the Louis Black "Lone Star" Award (2020). Godfrey Peoples was also honored by the National Board of Review with their Best Directorial Debut Award. Miss Juneteenth received both Independent Spirit and Gotham Awards nominations, winning a Best Actress Gotham for lead actor, Nicole Beharie. The film earned universal praise for its authentic storytelling, intimate point-of-view, and timely narrative and remains at a 99% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Godfrey Peoples has also worked in television, directing the pilot for Season 4 of the Emmy-winning Genius series and Apple TV+’s star-studded anthology Roar. In 2024, she won The African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) TV Honors award for Best TV Directing (Genius MLK/X) (2024). Next, Godfrey Peoples is set to direct the upcoming Otis Redding film, Otis & Zelma, starring John Boyega and Danielle Deadwyler. Godfrey Peoples is from Texas and received her MFA from USC School of Cinematic Arts.

About “Miss Juneteenth:

Synopsis: A former beauty queen and single mom prepares her rebellious teenage daughter for the "Miss Juneteenth" pageant.

Trailer: https://youtu.be/Vb3oREG_DdA?feature=shared

About the Janet Staiger Lecture in Gender and Sexuality
Beginning in 1994, faculty members in the Department of Radio-Television-Film have annually organized the visit and lecture by guest scholars and filmmakers to emphasize our critical focus on gender and sexuality in film and TV, including feminist and queer media theory, criticism, and production. World-class scholars and filmmakers continue to bring diversity of thinking in humanities and social science research and innovative practices in fiction and documentary filmmaking, inspiring all of us to reach further and grow together in our work.

The series has been endowed by Janet Staiger, the William P. Hobby Centennial Professor Emeritus of Communication and Professor Emeritus of Women's and Gender Studies at The University of Texas at Austin. Staiger is a pioneer in film studies with ground-breaking research and publications in authorship theory, modes of production, cultural and political issue of representation, genre theory, the historical reception of cinema and television, and historiographical issues in writing media histories.