Local screenwriter Felicia Kelly-Brookins wins Best Screenplay
JANS – For the second year in a row, acclaimed Jackson playwright and author Felicia Kelly-Brookins has taken home the JXN Film Festival’s Best Screenplay Award, this time for her chillingly evocative script, “Maypops and Murder: The Killing of George Stinney.” Told from the fictionalized perspective of the young boy’s mother, the screenplay dives deep into the tragedy and racial injustice surrounding the real-life 1944 execution of 14-year-old George Stinney Jr., the youngest person executed in the U.S. in the 20th century.
The JXN Film Festival is a vital platform for nurturing and spotlighting local talent in Jackson, MS and the South. It provides a platform for screenwriters, directors, cinematographers, actors, actresses, and social media influencers to showcase the talent in and around the area.
At the heart of this cultural renaissance stands Maximus Wright, the Visionary Founder and Executive Director of the JXN Film Festival. Wright, along with Esther Young, Director of Finance and Administration & Festival Gala Director, and Candice Love, Director of Education & Festival Director, have created a space for local talent to flourish. Their efforts have made the JXN Film Festival a cinematic cornerstone on Mississippi’s cultural calendar.
The 2025 Festival week was packed with industry workshops, panel discussions, and hands-on training led by Hollywood talent, who generously shared insight into breaking into the industry, sustaining a creative career, and producing meaningful content. Attendees left inspired, informed, and energized.
This year’s Festival theme was a nod to Southern cinematic legacy: “O Brother, Where Art Thou” (2000) – a fitting selection to showcase the rural South’s storytelling traditions. The Festival culminated in a glamorous gala on Friday, July 25, hosted at The Two Mississippi Museums.
