World Premiere
Narrative • Drama • USA • 2025 • 105 Minutes
Director: Keenan Dailey
Writer: Gertrude Namara
Cast: Diron Jones, Tisa Harriott, Derrica Kearney, Mathew Green
Producers: Paris “AJ” Adkins-Jackson, Kevin Lau
Filmmaker Q&A will follow the screening.
Brim is a trans-generational drama that weaves together a family’s story across the 20th and 21st centuries, exploring racial trauma, resilience, and legacy. Set against the backdrop of segregation in the 1940s American South, the film follows Leroy Payne and Rosetta Bishop as they confront systemic oppression and the erasure of Black identity. As the narrative moves into the 1990s, it delves into the devastating impact of the 1994 Crime Bill, focusing on George Mitchell, a character wrestling with his role in the evolving landscape of race and privilege. Brim poignantly examines how historical and modern racial tensions intersect with personal identity, capturing love, loss, and the enduring strength of the Black community in the face of adversity.
Director Keenan Dailey and Writer Trude Namara are both University of Illinois alumni. Producer Kevin Lau is a Champaign native, and most of the cast and crew are from central Illinois. The film was entirely shot in Champaign and Piatt counties with the assistance of Flyover Film Studios & Shatterglass Studios.
