Phillip Youmans (born February 18, 2000)[1] is an American filmmaker. He is the first African-American director to win the Founders Prize at Tribeca Film Festival, which he received for his 2019 directorial debut, Burning Cane.[2]
He completed his freshman year at New York University in May 2019.[1] In October 2019 he stated he may drop out of the program to focus on his career.[4]
Career
Youmans wrote, shot, directed and edited his first feature-length film, Burning Cane, as a senior in high school, when he was 17.[5][3] The film grew from a short film that Youmans wrote called The Glory.[3] It tells the story of a woman (played by Karen Kaia Livers) in rural Louisiana and her relationships with her alcoholic son and a local preacher.[6] It also stars and was co-produced by Wendell Pierce.[1][7] Raised Baptist, Youmans stated that the goal of Burning Cane was to "touch on [] how rigid religious conviction can be within the rural South, especially under sort of rigid interpretation of Protestantism."[3] Youmans financed the film with $2500 in personal savings, an Indiegogo campaign, and donations from friends and family.[4]
Burning Cane won the Founders Prize and the prize for best cinematography in a U.S. narrative feature film at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival. Youmans is the first African-American director to receive the Founders Prize; he is also the youngest director to have a film accepted to the Tribeca Film Festival.[5]
Youmans announced that he is currently developing his next feature film, which will focus on "the Black Panther chapter in New Orleans during 1978."[4]