Join us for the announcement of the 2026–2027 Patel Emerging Fellowship Cohort (Central Piedmont, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and Johnson C. Smith University), along with additional details about the program’s expansion to include filmmakers who are not currently enrolled in academic institutions.

The event will also feature a screening of the short film The Damned Thing, directed by Maya Haston, followed by a Q&A with the production team.

The Damned Thing is more than a horror story—it is a haunting allegory about truth, trauma, and the invisibility of injustice, told through the eyes of William Harker, a young Black writer caught between the violence of the seen and the unseen. Adapted from Ambrose Bierce’s 1893 short story, this screenplay reclaims the narrative through a modern Southern lens, weaving psychological horror with sharp social commentary.

This story deserves to be told now because it reflects the urgent realities of post-truth America—where video evidence can be erased, testimonies are questioned, and the color of one’s skin can determine the legitimacy of one’s story. In the age of body cameras, courtroom erasure, and re-traumatized witnesses, The Damned Thing cuts into the disquieting question: what happens when the truth is visible but still dismissed?