Gender

Male

Location

Richmond

Filmmakers: What is your primary skill and where do you work most?

Norcal PA, Norcal Directing, Writer Norcal

My current Project Title:

Mr. Emancipation: The Walter Perry Story

I describe myself as a

SFF Filmmaker

About me - current project:

Preston William Chase is a seventh generation African Canadian and a descendant of William Parker. Parker escaped slavery in Maryland, and went on to play a key role in the Christianta Riots in Pennsylvania. It was his friend, the great Fredrick Douglass who convinced Parker to take refuge in Canada. Born to a single mother in the Black community of downtown Windsor, Ontario, Canada, Chase went on to become a high school teacher. He is also the family historian and a passionate advocate for greater awareness of a historic Black community, time has forgotten. It was a desire for everyone to know the story of his great uncle Walter Perry that led Chase to pick up a camera and begin recording the stories about him from the elders in his community. Mr. Emancipation: The Walter Perry story is the result of 20 years of research and five years of production. Short Synopsis Directed by Preston Chase, Mr. Emancipation is the story of Walter L Perry’s determination to put on a celebration that would transcend divisions of race and class. He staged an Emancipation Day festival that was where everyone wanted to be. Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr, Jesse Owens all headed there because, as civil rights activist Dick Gregory said "The largest Juneteenth celebration was not in America, it was in Windsor, Canada.”

Laurels, awards and other accomplishments:

FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS Platinum Remi Award, 1st Documentary Award The 53rd annual World-Fest Houston International Film Festival 2020 - Texas, USA(Canadian screen qualifier) Best Documentary Detroit Trinity International Film Festival 2020 - Detroit, Michigan, USA New York Movie Awards 2021, New York, New York, USA Judges Award Gary International Black Film Festival 2020, Gary, Indiana, USA Best Educational Film Cult Valley Global Cinefest(February) 2021, Bengal, INDIA Best First Time Director Chicago Indie Film awards 2021, Chicago, Illinois, USA Audience Award Soul West Festival 2020 - Phoenix, Arizona, USA Finalist Urban Film Festival 2020 - Miami, Florida, USA Denton Black Film Festival 2021, Denton, Texas, USA Nominee (Pending May 27th, 2021) Yorkton Film Festival 2021 - Yorkton, Saskatchewan, CANADA (Canadian screen qualifier) Semi-Finalist Flickers Rhode Island Film Festival 2020, Providence, USA (Canadian screen qualifier) Lunenburg Film Festival 2020, Nova Scotia, CANADA (Canadian screen qualifier) Garden Route International, Western Cape, SOUTH AFRICA Other accomplishments- The film was one of the catalyst in Canada to make Emacipation Day a National holiday in Canada. Links provided below https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thehouse/cbc-the-house-march-20-2021-1.5956693 https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thehouse/emancipation-day-canada-motion-1.5956712 https://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/federal-emanicipation-day-declaration-follows-windsors-long-history-of-celebrations

My home region is:

Outside the US